When you are out shopping for diamonds or diamond jewelry, you will come across the terms ideal cut and fine cut often. So, what does ideal cut and fine cut mean, and what is the difference between them. In this post, we will discuss in brief about the difference between the ideal cut and fine cut.
The term ideal cut is used to refer to diamonds that have the proportions that conform to the ideal standard. If you are buying diamonds in the USA, the term ideal cut will mean that the diamond has been cut to proportions that are listed in the American Standard for diamond proportions. It was in the year 1919 when the ideal cut was created and it has been used to evaluate diamonds since then.
The term fine cut or Practical Fine cut is a diamond cut standard created in 1939 in Germany. The fine cut proportion standard is widely used in Europe. This means ideal cut and fine cuts are benchmarks or standards that are used in different parts of the world.
Even though the ideal cut used in America and the fine cut used in Europe are proportion standards that have been set to ensure maximum brilliance, there are a few differences in their recommendations. Most of the differences are insignificant; however, there are two differences that you should be aware of. Some of the major differences in ideal cut and fine cut are discussed below.
In the American ideal cut standard, the crown height of the diamond has to be about 16.2 percent of the girdle. In the European fine cut standard, the crown height recommended is only 14.4 percent.
In the ideal cut, the recommended table diameter is 53 percent of the girdle whereas, in fine cut, the table diameter that is recommended is 56 percent.
