By Alethea Inns, CG
Did you know that diamonds aren’t just round? They are cut in all shapes and styles to suit any personality or occasion.
With diamonds, a “fancy shape” is anything other than a round. Usually, the rough diamond crystal is shaped as an octahedron – a three-dimensional shape with eight faces, much like two pyramids stuck together at their base. When the diamond crystal isn’t the typical octahedron because of how it was formed in the earth or transported to the surface, diamonds are cut into fancy shapes to get maximum yield from the crystal.
Fancy shapes are often cut by hand because they require extra attention to make sure the facets suit the individual rough. This means that fancy shaped diamonds have a much broader range of proportions, and that has made it difficult for researchers to determine what the most pleasing proportion sets are to the human eye.
That being said, the American Gem Society Laboratories is the only diamond grading laboratory that has managed to create a comprehensive cut grade analysis on a selection of fancy shapes. The American Gem Society Laboratories’ fancy shape cut grade is based on three-dimensional scans of the diamond that determine how light interacts with the diamond and returns to your eye. If you are buying a fancy shape with superior cut, you want to be sure it is accompanied by an AGS Laboratories report. With our patented technology, you can be sure you are getting consistency and accuracy based on science, and a truly bright, beautiful fancy shaped diamond for the one you love.
