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Call Beverly Hills Diamonds at: 1 (800) 453-8831 for all your diamond needs.
Hearts and arrows (H&A) is a cutting style for round brilliant diamonds. Looking at the pattern is also a way of measuring optical symmetry, while gem labs only measure physical symmetry. The value of a diamond is determined by four factors known as the "Four Cs": Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat. Carat refers to the stone's weight, clarity grades the degree of impurities contained in the stone, and colour defines the shade of the stone, from the purest white to a yellowish tone. Cut is the way in which the rough stone has been fashioned into a gem. Most gemologists consider cut the most important diamond characteristic because it has the largest impact on a diamond's brilliance. Even if a diamond has perfect color and clarity, a diamond with a poor cut will have dulled brilliance. A very well cut diamond can mask clarity inclusions and make a diamond appear more colorless as well. The hearts and arrows pattern appears in brilliant-cut diamonds that have very good parallelism and symmetry. The pattern is a series of eight gray arrowheads when viewed from above the "crown" with one eye, and eight heart shapes when viewed from below the "pavilion". H&A viewers eliminate incoming light from certain angles and cause the pattern to appear black or very dark gray. In order to display this pattern flawlessly, the diamond's top facet or "table facet" must be exactly perpendicular to the bottom of the diamond or "pavilion". It must also be cut to have great symmetry of its major facets and have particular lengths of its lower girdle facets. Diamonds with a H&A cut command a price premium in the US market, reflecting the generally greater time needed to produce them and the greater loss of weight from rough, as well as their generally better overall cut quality. It has also become a popular sales tool in diamond marketing. Although the hearts and arrows property is indicative of a top-tier cut, it does not always mean the diamond will be the most brilliant. Optimal facet placement is the key to brilliance and more important than facet patterning. Some people may dislike the hearts and arrows patterning as well, since they may see dark arrow-shaped shadows in their diamond under certain lighting conditions. While the major facets must be very symmetrical, there is considerable room for variation in cut quality and appearance from the "minor" facets, and from the angles of the major facets. H & A Labelling Some in the diamond industry disagree on which diamonds should receive the "Hearts and Arrows" label. Because there is no industry standard, one person or company may say a diamond is a "Hearts and Arrows Diamond" while another may say it is not. Most diamonds with an overall cut graded by GIA as "Excellent" (with Excellent symmetry as well) or American Gem Society as "0" (or "Ideal") will have some sort of hearts and arrows pattern when seen through a viewer, although the pattern may not be perfect. Some in the diamond industry believe the hearts and arrows pattern should be graded, and only those with the top grade should be called "Hearts and Arrows". Those people believe just the presence of a hearts and arrows pattern alone is not enough to be considered a hearts and arrows diamond, the pattern must be perfect to within certain guidelines. The guidelines may vary depending on what benefits which company.Hearts and Arrows diamonds are available through diamond brokers at wholesale prices. Most hearts and arrows diamonds are sold in high end retail jewelry stores at very high prices. Typically a hearts and arrows diamonds will sell in retail jewelry stores at double of a regular cut diamond. A diamond broker can provide you with these same hearts and arrows diamonds selling in Tiffany's and Cartier at wholesale diamond prices. Only true master diamond cutters can create a hearts and arrows diamond. Hearts and arrows diamond bezel, star, upper girdle, lower girdle, and pavilion main facets must be aligned precisely 180 degrees opposite of each other or the "H&A" pattern will be incomplete, misalign, faded or distorted in its appearance. All the facets must be exactly the same shape and size. If the cut of the diamond is even slightly asymmetric, it results in, uneven or incomplete display of the pattern. To gain this optimum hearts and arrows diamond reflection and refraction of light, the cutter must be willing to sacrifice expensive rough diamond material, losing significant percentage of costly rough stone to yield a smaller diamond of superior beauty. Whereas it takes an hour to polish a standard cut, the "Ideal Cut Hearts and Arrows diamond" can take up to four days. As a result of the extremely complex cut and occurrence of a rare phenomenon, the diamonds exhibit a complete "Hearts & Arrows" pattern that cost more to produce than a regular round or even a standard ideal cut diamond. Not all all Ideal Cut diamonds are created equal. The Ideal Cut with the 'Hearts & Arrows' optical effect is the unique diamond in the world of ideal proportions. The term ' Hearts & Arrows' is a generic description used by the diamond industry to refer to diamonds that exhibit a crisp and complete pattern of Hearts & Arrows. They are created by the reflection of 16 lower girdle facets in the table of the stone. This phenomenon of harmony can only be seen with the aid of a special magnifying viewer. The clinical precision facet alignment, the impeccable care cherished by the crown and the pavilion angles, the placing of the bezel, star, upper girdle, lower girdle and the pavilion facets with accuracy of the highest order emitted the Hearts & Arrows. This Hearts & arrows pattern generates light return of an average 98 % in comparison with an average Hearts & Arrows that has a light return of an average 80%. The standard of the perfect degrees for maximum brilliance, blended with perfect degrees of the Hearts & Arrows, results in the best diamond in the world today. The beauty that is the result of those experts who labour to bring out the best from rough diamonds. So if you are shopping for the best diamonds in the world look for hearts and arrows diamonds and find a diamond broker to buy you the diamond directly from the cutter. Call Beverly Hills Diamonds at: 1 (800) 453-8831 for all your diamond needs.
Hearts and arrows (H&A) is a cutting style for round brilliant diamonds. Looking at the pattern is also a way of measuring optical symmetry, while gem labs only measure physical symmetry. The value of a diamond is determined by four factors known as the "Four Cs": Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat. Carat refers to the stone's weight, clarity grades the degree of impurities contained in the stone, and colour defines the shade of the stone, from the purest white to a yellowish tone. Cut is the way in which the rough stone has been fashioned into a gem. Most gemologists consider cut the most important diamond characteristic because it has the largest impact on a diamond's brilliance. Even if a diamond has perfect color and clarity, a diamond with a poor cut will have dulled brilliance. A very well cut diamond can mask clarity inclusions and make a diamond appear more colorless as well. The hearts and arrows pattern appears in brilliant-cut diamonds that have very good parallelism and symmetry. The pattern is a series of eight gray arrowheads when viewed from above the "crown" with one eye, and eight heart shapes when viewed from below the "pavilion". H&A viewers eliminate incoming light from certain angles and cause the pattern to appear black or very dark gray. In order to display this pattern flawlessly, the diamond's top facet or "table facet" must be exactly perpendicular to the bottom of the diamond or "pavilion". It must also be cut to have great symmetry of its major facets and have particular lengths of its lower girdle facets. Diamonds with a H&A cut command a price premium in the US market, reflecting the generally greater time needed to produce them and the greater loss of weight from rough, as well as their generally better overall cut quality. It has also become a popular sales tool in diamond marketing. Although the hearts and arrows property is indicative of a top-tier cut, it does not always mean the diamond will be the most brilliant. Optimal facet placement is the key to brilliance and more important than facet patterning. Some people may dislike the hearts and arrows patterning as well, since they may see dark arrow-shaped shadows in their diamond under certain lighting conditions. While the major facets must be very symmetrical, there is considerable room for variation in cut quality and appearance from the "minor" facets, and from the angles of the major facets. H & A Labelling Some in the diamond industry disagree on which diamonds should receive the "Hearts and Arrows" label. Because there is no industry standard, one person or company may say a diamond is a "Hearts and Arrows Diamond" while another may say it is not. Most diamonds with an overall cut graded by GIA as "Excellent" (with Excellent symmetry as well) or American Gem Society as "0" (or "Ideal") will have some sort of hearts and arrows pattern when seen through a viewer, although the pattern may not be perfect. Some in the diamond industry believe the hearts and arrows pattern should be graded, and only those with the top grade should be called "Hearts and Arrows". Those people believe just the presence of a hearts and arrows pattern alone is not enough to be considered a hearts and arrows diamond, the pattern must be perfect to within certain guidelines. The guidelines may vary depending on what benefits which company.Hearts and Arrows diamonds are available through diamond brokers at wholesale prices. Most hearts and arrows diamonds are sold in high end retail jewelry stores at very high prices. Typically a hearts and arrows diamonds will sell in retail jewelry stores at double of a regular cut diamond. A diamond broker can provide you with these same hearts and arrows diamonds selling in Tiffany's and Cartier at wholesale diamond prices. Only true master diamond cutters can create a hearts and arrows diamond. Hearts and arrows diamond bezel, star, upper girdle, lower girdle, and pavilion main facets must be aligned precisely 180 degrees opposite of each other or the "H&A" pattern will be incomplete, misalign, faded or distorted in its appearance. All the facets must be exactly the same shape and size. If the cut of the diamond is even slightly asymmetric, it results in, uneven or incomplete display of the pattern. To gain this optimum hearts and arrows diamond reflection and refraction of light, the cutter must be willing to sacrifice expensive rough diamond material, losing significant percentage of costly rough stone to yield a smaller diamond of superior beauty. Whereas it takes an hour to polish a standard cut, the "Ideal Cut Hearts and Arrows diamond" can take up to four days. As a result of the extremely complex cut and occurrence of a rare phenomenon, the diamonds exhibit a complete "Hearts & Arrows" pattern that cost more to produce than a regular round or even a standard ideal cut diamond. Not all all Ideal Cut diamonds are created equal. The Ideal Cut with the 'Hearts & Arrows' optical effect is the unique diamond in the world of ideal proportions. The term ' Hearts & Arrows' is a generic description used by the diamond industry to refer to diamonds that exhibit a crisp and complete pattern of Hearts & Arrows. They are created by the reflection of 16 lower girdle facets in the table of the stone. This phenomenon of harmony can only be seen with the aid of a special magnifying viewer. The clinical precision facet alignment, the impeccable care cherished by the crown and the pavilion angles, the placing of the bezel, star, upper girdle, lower girdle and the pavilion facets with accuracy of the highest order emitted the Hearts & Arrows. This Hearts & arrows pattern generates light return of an average 98 % in comparison with an average Hearts & Arrows that has a light return of an average 80%. The standard of the perfect degrees for maximum brilliance, blended with perfect degrees of the Hearts & Arrows, results in the best diamond in the world today. The beauty that is the result of those experts who labour to bring out the best from rough diamonds. So if you are shopping for the best diamonds in the world look for hearts and arrows diamonds and find a diamond broker to buy you the diamond directly from the cutter. Call Beverly Hills Diamonds at: 1 (800) 453-8831 for all your diamond needs.
Guide created: 09/10/07 (updated 10/10/07)
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