How Diamonds Are Cut

In their most natural form, diamonds are – 
well – quite ugly. They have no luster or shine,
 and in fact, look like nothing more than 
broken glass. A diamond must be cut, and 
then polished before it actually becomes a
thing of beauty.

Diamonds are cut with saws, into round 
shapes. From the rounded shape, other 
shapes may be cut, such as heart shapes 
– but the shape is less important than the 
quality of the cutting that is being done. If 
the diamond is poorly cut, it will lose light, 
and it will not sparkle and shine very well. 
Each facet of the diamond must be 
carefully cut into the geometrical shapes 
that allow the diamond to sparkle and 
shine, then the entire diamond is cut into 
a specific shape, such as an emerald cut 
or a princess cut diamond.

Once the cut is done, the diamond is put into 
a dop, which resembles a cup with another 
diamond – only a diamond is strong enough 
to smooth the edges of another diamond. 
Once the diamond has been cut and shaped, 
and had the edges smoothed in the dop, it is 
polished on a scaif or a diamond polishing 
wheel.

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