Grading for Cut Quality

Most people are aware that diamonds are graded for cut quality, polish and symmetry (with an excellent grade in each category forming the well-known “Triple Excellent” or “Triple X” rating) but it’s rare that a colored stone is graded for anything beyond clarity (and many colored stone vendors will not even provide that.)  Finewater has always provided a clarity grade but we feel that a cut quality grade would also be useful, so we will be adding it to all of our gemstone listings as time permits. There are no internationally accepted cut quality standards for colored stones, so our cut grade will encapsulate several factors such as proper proportions, meetpoint accuracy, symmetry, and polish (which includes scratches, blemishes, chips, etc). Check out our previous blog articles on these qualities and how to evaluate cut quality excellence for yourself.