Diamond cut

What does diamond cut mean?

The cut of a diamond is often thought to be the most important of the 4c’s. It refers to how the facets of a diamond interact with light, producing that all important sparkle. A stone’s sparkle and brilliance depend on its symmetry, how well proportioned the dimensions of the diamond are, and its polish. 

A diamond’s cut looks at the quality of each tiny surface, called a facet. If a diamond has a high quality cut, then the facets will have been polished with mathematical precision to ensure the facets are in the optimal position to reflect the most amount of light. 

A diamond’s cut grade is evaluated within a range of excellent to poor. Lab-grown diamonds are no different, and are measured in the same way. Every lightbox lab-grown diamond has been measured as “very good”, offering exceptional brilliance, fire and scintillation. In fact, our production process means that we grow our stones to be the optimal size and shape for cutting, maximizing the sparkle each stone can offer.


Are diamond cut and diamond shape different?

This can often be an area that creates confusion, and although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, diamond shape is different to diamond cut. 

Diamond cut assesses how light interacts with a diamond, a higher cut grade is based on a combination of the stones proportions, symmetry, and polish. 

Diamond shape is related to the outline or style of a diamond.  Our lab-grown diamonds are available in lots of different shapes, including round brilliant, cushion, princess and heart.

What is the difference between diamond fire, brilliance and scintillation? 

‘Fire’ is the colored sparkle visible when the stone is in light, caused by light being broken down into different colors when it enters the diamond. ‘brilliance’ is the colorless light emitted from the stone. 

When a diamond has been cut to ideal proportions, the stone will bend, refract and reflect light in a way that maximizes its fire and brilliance. 

Scintillation refers to the flashes of light and intense sparkles in a diamond as it moves.

  • Our environmental commitment

    At Lightbox we are big on transparency and our commitment to reducing the footprint of our stones is a huge part of this. See more on how we grow our stones with 100% renewable energy.

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  • Visit the lab

    Explore the Lightbox Lab in Portland, Oregon, home to our world-leading technology producing up to 200,000 carats a year, each one always VS clarity, very good cut and now 'grown in the USA'.

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  • Lab-grown FAQs, answered.

    Our leading technology means our lab-grown diamonds are among the highest quality you can find. Learn more about the science behind the sparkle with our guide to lab-grown diamonds.

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