Understanding depth

[tlmd]

I am having trouble figuring out what impact depth has on a diamond. Can someone explain to me what depth really means and the impact it has on the diamond? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

A deep diamond is one with intense intellectual capacity.




Or, the deeper the diamond, the smaller the spread when seen from face up.
Generally diamond cutters want to make deeper cuts and buyers want shallower stones.
Read the stuff in the tutorial under knowledge - especially the 60:60 page.
depth is quoted as a percentage of the average diameter.

 

[aljdewey]

A deeper diamond can present two problems. The most common one: as Garry noted, you're paying for weight that you don't see.




For example, assume you want to put a 10 x 10 reflecting pool in your backyard. You have a choice of two pools. One is 2 ft deep; the other is 6 ft. deep. If you had to pay by the gallon to fill each pool, it would cost much more to fill the 6-ft deep pool....but both would look the same to anyone standing across your yard. Why would you want to pay for the 6-ft pool when the extra money wouldn't make it look any different? Same concept.




The second potential problem with deeper diamonds: they can potentially leak light through the pavilion (unless the crown height balances it just so)......making for a less sparkly diamond.