What is a brilliant cut diamond?
The beauty of a diamond is based primarily on its ability to reflect light and refract it in to a myriad of rainbows. The measurement of this ability is called the refractive index or RI of the stone. The angles of the facets to each other are critical to the amount of light being reflected and refracted. These angles were calculated mathematically to optimize these prismatic properties so that all the light is reflected up-and-out of the stone. The cut that has the most brilliance has a round outline when seen from the top that enables the prismatic properties to be fully exploited and hence, is called the brilliant cut. Diamonds also come in many different cuts beside the brilliant. They include oval, pear, marquise (or navette), princess, emerald or octagon step cut, trillion, triangle, baguette and tapered baguette, In addition to the preceding more common cuts are kites, shields, rose cuts, half moons, radiants, stars, hexagons, fans, and briolettes.
