Articles about Diamond Grading

Good Old Gold's Jonathan Weingarten walks consumers through the cushion cut diamond buying process.

Unlike many other Fancy Shape Diamonds (Asscher, Radiant, Emerald, Ovals, Princess-Cut, Pear Shape, Marquise, and Heart Shape), Cushion Diamonds offer to the consumer various options that involve different patterns of facet alignment cuts and ratios. The aim of this tutorial is to present to the reader the gemological knowledge necessary with which to make an intelligent decision in regards to their eventual choice. Diagrams and explanations of the cushion cut diamond along with videos and photos will be highlighted.

Of all the diamond instruments and analytical devices on the market today possibly the most valuable is the ASET (Angular Spectrum Evaluation Tool). It is simple in concept, easy to use and to understand, and forms the graphical portion of the sophisticated light performance grading system used by the American Gem Society and its Laboratory. The cut quality analysis performed by the AGSL is widely considered to be the most comprehensive and critical of any lab in the world.

Has the GIA’s cut grading system for round brilliant diamonds made lower cut grades redundant?

A synthetic diamond is chemically, physically and optically a real diamond, though grown in a machine rather than mined from the ground. They are commonly called man-made, lab-grown, lab-created or cultured diamonds (a term not favored by International gem standards organizations, as they feel it is deceptive or unfair, even though by definition [produced under artificial and controlled conditions], cultured is not incorrect.) and can be grown in yellow, blue or white/colorless through a couple methods.