The Round Brilliant Cut Diamond - How Unseen Flaws Can Help You Afford A Real Diamond

Brilliant Cut diamonds are the most traditional shape for rings and earrings, and of course many diamond engagement rings have the Brilliant Cut as a centrepiece.

The best way to describe this versatile and appealing cut is wide cone shapes with 57 facets which allow it to sparkle at any angle, especially in strong light.

So, what is so special about a Brilliant cut diamond? Well there are several reasons why this way of cutting this special gem is the most popular of all.

1. It shows off the best features a natural diamond has to offer.

2. It can be cut in such a way that natural flaws (or inclusions) are impossible to see by anyone but an expert.

3. Because the Brilliant Cut it is such a regular, round shape, it means that it is easy to match a ring with any other diamond jewellery with round diamonds.

4. From a cutting perspective, a Brilliant Cut allows more of the original diamond to be retained than with other cuts, so the carat value is higher.

5. For a truly spectacular centrepiece in a diamond engagement ring, nothing beats a Brilliant cut called an “Ideal Cut”. These diamonds are perfectly cut and rare, so very expensive - but oh so beautiful.

Natural Inclusions - Or Flaws

What about the flaws? It sounds like such a negative word, but diamonds are formed by nature and there is very little in nature that is 100% perfect. So flaws, (also called inclusions) are often a part of natural diamonds. There are good and bad aspects about inclusions. The good things include:

A well cut diamond with a flaw makes a spectacular piece of jewellery that is still affordable for the average person

A flaw makes the stone completely unique, rather like a fingerprint, making it completely traceable in event of loss or theft

The down side of flawed diamonds take in:

The overall clarity can be affected, especially if the inclusion is a little piece of coloured material.

Diamonds are the hardest material on this planet, but some types of inclusion can mean that the stone is more susceptible to weakness under certain conditions.

Jewellers often correctly advise their clients not to be concerned about a small inclusion in a diamond because it will not greatly affect the appearance or strength.

These days, there are so many artificial, man-made diamonds in jewellery, and every one of them is absolutely perfect - some might say too perfect. Nature makes the unique diamond, man makes the exact diamond, and the choice for the buyer is entirely subject to personal taste.