Round Diamonds, Brilliance and Fire

Round diamonds are still the most popular cut of diamond sold today. Throughout the last few centuries diamond cutters have perfected the cut of round diamonds ensuring that round diamonds have the ideal 57 facets that assist in producing the maximum brilliance of all diamonds.

The brilliance of a diamond is its ability to reflect white light. As light penetrates a diamond, it is then scattered and fractured within the diamond itself and then returns light to the observer’s eyes. That is the sparkle that you see. A perfectly cut diamond provides maximum brilliance and whilst a diamond with a poor cut will have poor brilliance meaning the stone won’t return light well and will look dull and lifeless.

Fire within a diamond is the coloured sparkle you see when the diamond is exposed to light. Diamond fire is also called dispersion and it is caused when light enters a diamond and is then broken down into different colours when it enters the diamond.

Lastly scintillation refers to the blinking flashes of light between facets that sparkle when the diamond is moved. As the light bounces between facets of the diamond it creates a blinking, glittery effect. The right amount of contrast between light and dark areas in the diamond is important otherwise too much contrast can cause the diamond to emerge overly dark and too little can cause the sparkle to be lessened.

A diamond with ideal proportions of cut will be able to bend and reflect light to maximise the diamond’s fire, brilliance and scintillation thus providing the observer a dazzling display of colours and light. This can be seen by an ordinary consumer/non-trained person. It is therefore very important that when selecting a diamond you speak to a trained jeweller who you trust to ensure that the diamond for your engagement ring is the best diamond you can get for your budget.