Category: Others

What exactly is Hearts and Arrows? Hearts and Arrows is a special optical effect that appears on round brilliant cut diamonds. You cannot see it with your naked eyes. A professional tool is needed to view this pattern clearly.

When you look from the bottom of the diamond, which is called the pavilion, you can see eight arrow shapes. These arrows line up in perfect symmetry. If you turn the diamond over and look down from the top table, you will see eight neat heart shapes. People use a special magnifier, named hearts and arrows scope, to watch this unique view. Normal glasses or magnifiers cannot show the full pattern well.

Many buyers have a common question. Is a Hearts and Arrows diamond always a high-quality one? The answer is no. This effect alone cannot prove the overall quality of a diamond. It only tells you that the diamond has great symmetry.

The value of a diamond is judged by the world famous 4C standard. They are Carat weight, Color, Clarity and Cut. A diamond can have perfect Hearts and Arrows pattern, but its proportions may be very bad. For example, if the pavilion is too deep or too shallow, light will leak out from the sides or bottom. In this case, the diamond will look dull and dark. Such stones are never top grade.

Hearts and Arrows only connect with Symmetry in diamond cut. To form clear hearts and arrows, the cutting angles, sizes and symmetry must be extremely accurate. For this reason, most diamonds with this effect get high symmetry grades, such as Very Good or Excellent.

Even so, it cannot stand for other key parts of diamond cutting. The first one is Proportions. It includes table size, crown angle, pavilion depth and more. These details directly affect three important features: Brilliance, Fire and Scintillation. A diamond with perfect symmetry but poor proportions will never shine brightly. The second part is Polish. It means how smooth the diamond surface is.

Here is an important knowlege for all buyers. A diamond with Excellent Cut grade already owns top-level symmetry and polish. Most of them can show clear Hearts and Arrows. But the rule does not work the other way around. A diamond marked with Hearts and Arrows may not get an overall Excellent Cut grade. Having hearts and arrows is a possible result of Excellent cut, not a must.

Now let’s talk about shopping tips. Should you pay extra money just for Hearts and Arrows?

Do not chase this concept blindly. Many jewelry sellers use it as a marketing trick to rise prices. You should focus more on the official report from famous labs like GIA. Always check the full 4C grades on the certificate first.

Put Cut grade on your top list when you choose diamonds. If you have enough budget and want the best shine and fire, pick diamonds with GIA Excellent Cut. Almost all of them present beautiful Hearts and Arrows, and their light performance is the best you can get.

Diamonds with Very Good Cut have better cost performance. They may also show hearts and arrows, but their shine will be a little weaker than Excellent ones.

You can treat Hearts and Arrows as a nice romantic extra. It carries a lovely meaning: wholehearted love and forever romance. It is a wonderful symbol for couples. As long as you do not pay unreasonable extra cost for it, it is a nice plus point.

All in all

Hearts and Arrows is just an optical phenomenon. It only reflects good symmetry of a diamond. It is a bonus, not a necessary standard. You should not make your final choice only based on this feature.

GIA Excellent Cut is the highest rating for overall cutting quality. It covers proportions, symmetry and polish all together. It makes sure the diamond has the best brilliance and fire. Cut is the most important factor that decides how beautiful a diamond looks. You need to take it as your first choice.

Bottom Line

Here is the final suggestion for you. Within your budget, choose diamonds with GIA certificate and Excellent Cut grade first. In this way, you will get a high-quality diamond with amazing shine. It will most likely have perfect Hearts and Arrows as well. This is the smart way to buy a diamond.

You may run into problems when selecting diamonds. Welcome to contact us, and our team will provide you with professional and reliable advice.

The bowtie effect refers to a dark shadow area that looks like a bow tie on the table of fancy cut diamonds. It can be seen on many irregular shaped diamonds, such as oval diamonds, heart diamonds and pear shape diamonds. This bowtie shadow usually stretches across the middle part of the stone, splitting the diamond into two halves visually.

This is basically an optical phenomenon. It happens because light cannot reflect and refract properly inside the diamond. It is not caused by inclusions or impurities inside the diamond itself. The bowtie effect is quite common and matters a lot when you pick fancy shaped diamonds, so you need to pay extra attention to it during selection.

What causes the bowtie effect?

The main reason for the bowtie effect is improper diamond cutting proportions.

First of all, about light leakage. Under ideal conditions, light enters from the top of a diamond. It bounces several times inside the stone and finally refracts back out from the top. This process creates the brilliant sparkle that diamonds are famous for.

Secondly, poor cutting quality will lead to problems. If a diamond is cut too shallow or too deep, or its pavilion angle is not correct, light cannot reflect effectively inside. When light escapes from the sides or the bottom of the diamond, a dark area with no returning light will form right away.

Thirdly, the shape of the diamond also plays a part. Diamonds like oval, pear and marquise have a large length to width ratio. Their elongated shape makes light loss more likely in the center area, which then forms a clear bowtie shadow.

Which diamond shapes are most likely to have the bowtie effect?

The bowtie effect appears most frequently on elongated fancy cut diamonds. The most typical ones are oval cut, pear cut and marquise cut diamonds. It also shows up on radiant cut diamonds quite often.

Sometimes you can also find this shadow on cushion cut and emerald cut diamonds, but the bowtie here is usually not obvious. Thanks to its perfect symmetry, round brilliant cut diamonds almost never have the bowtie effect.

Can we completely avoid the bowtie effect?

Nearly all elongated fancy shaped diamonds have the bowtie effect to some degree, and it is almost impossible to get one with no bowtie at all. So our goal is not to hunt for a totally bowtie-free diamond. Instead, we should choose a stone where the bowtie is faint and not noticeable at all.

How to judge and choose diamonds with the bowtie effect

Seeing the diamond in person is the most important step. Pictures and diamond certificates can not fully show the real look of the bowtie effect. You have to watch real videos or check the physical diamond, and view it from different angles under various lighting conditions.

You also need to tell the severity of the bowtie. A slight bowtie only has a very pale grey shadow. It will not ruin the beauty and sparkle of the diamond, and this kind is totally acceptable.

If the bowtie is obvious, you can see a clear dark grey or black shadow right in the center. It looks like a thick black bowtie across the stone, which greatly damages the appearance and value of the diamond. You should stay away from diamonds like this.

A severe bowtie means there is a huge, deep black area on the diamond. The stone looks flawed and dull. Such diamonds must never be chosen.

It is wise to buy diamonds from reliable sellers. Well-known online jewelry retailers can provide 360-degree high-definition videos of each diamond. These videos let you check the bowtie condition clearly, so remember to watch them carefully before you make a purchase.

Professional cutting also helps a lot. Experienced diamond cutters will adjust the proportions, symmetry and facet angles to reduce the bowtie effect as much as they can. Choosing diamonds with Excellent or Very Good cut grades is a good way to avoid strong bowtie shadows.

When you check a diamond, rotate it and observe from different sides. If the dark shadow stays prominent from most views, you’d better keep looking for other options. Keep searching until you find a nice diamond where the bowtie is barely visible.We can also help you pick diamonds with mild bowtie effect on Blue Nile. Feel free to contact us via the form below.

Does your diamond’s GIA certificate mark a cavity? Do you know what this kind of inclusion is? The word cavity means hole in English. Most cavities form when other surface flaws like knots or crystals fall off after the diamond gets hit. A small number of cavities also come from broken feathers, which create sharp openings on the stone. It looks just like a tooth with cavities. The bigger the cavity is, the worse the diamond looks visually. For this reason, we do not suggest buying any diamond that has a cavity inclusion.

Gem experts have studied this issue for years, and they find cavities can appear anywhere on a diamond. Some buyers think diamonds with cavities on the girdle or edges are okay to buy. They believe the prongs of the ring setting will cover the cavity after mounting, so no one will notice the flaw. This idea sound reasonable, but it has hidden risks. As you wear the diamond longer, accidental knocks can make the edge cavity bigger and bigger. It will finally lower the overall quality of the stone.

Diamonds with cavities on the table are even less recommended. A large hole on the top surface will directly hurt the diamond’s fire and brilliance. Diamonds have a nature to attract oil and repel water. When you wear it daily, cosmetics and oily substances will stick to the stone easily. These oils catch dust very fast. Over time, dirt builds up inside the cavity, and it will look like a dark spot. This dark mark seriously ruins the diamond’s sparkle.

Recently, one follower send me two diamonds and ask me to help choose between them. I checked their GIA certificates carefully and found both stones have cavity inclusions. So I told this person to look for other options instead. There are countless diamonds on the market. If you compare more choices, you will definitely find a much better one without such obvious flaws.

Simple Prong Styles: Six-prong & Four-prong

Bands With Side Pave Diamonds

Halo Cluster Setting Styles

Bands With Colored Gemstones

Fancy Shaped Diamond Rings

Understanding GIA Diamond Certificates

The Ideal Proportion Range for Perfect Pear Shaped Diamonds

Standards for Perfect Cut Oval Diamonds

Symbolic Meaning of Oval Cut Diamonds

During the interview with reporters at the scene, Ady An speak highly of her husband without hiding her love. She can not stop praise how thoughtful and kind Chen Ronglian is in daily life. The most eye-catching thing on her hand is a huge diamond ring with 10.57 carats, it shine brightly under all the spotlights and catch every guest’s attention at once. Ady An share the special meaning behind this special number 10.57 to everyone. She said the pronunciation of these numbers sound like a sweet sentence in Chinese, which mean “totally perfect, my wife”. This secret romantic hint prepared by her husband touch her heart deeply.

Many guests stand up and clap their hands loudly after hearing this touching story. All celebrities and relatives raise their wine glasses to toast the newlyweds. Everyone send their sincere blessing to Ady An and Chen Ronglian. We all hope they can live a peaceful, sweet and happy life after marriage. Wish them get a lovely baby soon and build a warm little family full of laughter every single day. Every people who watch the wedding photos and news online also feel touched by their sincere love story, and we all wait to hear good news about their baby in the future.