Diamond Anatomy

Culet

The facet, or “point”, is located at the tip of the pavilion of a gemstone.



Polish

The smoothness of each facet after it has been polished, is graded on a scale from fair (F) to excellent (EX). Polish marks cannot be seen by the unaided eye and have a subtle if not minuet effect to the brilliance of a stone.



Girdle

The girdle is the small area around a diamond between the Crown and the Pavilion.



Fluorescence

This is the alignment of the facets with each other. If a stone’s facet varies significantly with unequal measurements due to inconsistancies in the girdle around the stone and unequal facets, this will cause loss of light and loss of brilliance.

This grading element is apparent when the diamond has a reaction to UV light. Fluorescence is graded from “None” to “Very Strong” with several grading shades between. Even though diamonds with fluorescence fall slightly less in price to diamonds without, this characteristic for a growing number of people seems to be a sought after novelty.



Dept Percentage

The depth is measured from the culet to the table, divided by the width of the gemstone. This is a major element of a gem stone since it directly effects how the stone reflects light to show its sparkle.



Table percentage

Is the width of the table divided by the diameter of the gemstone. This also is an important element in displaying a stone's sparkle.