Heart Shaped Diamonds

Heart cut diamonds are dreamy and whimsical. They have soft curving arcs (or “lobes”) at the top, and a graceful point at the bottom. Hearts can be tall and slender, or shorter and plump. Couples choosing a Heart should always look for a symmetrical, pleasing shape, a centered culet, and even contrast/brilliance.

Like other fancy cuts, GIA does not grade the cut quality of Heart shaped diamonds. So, jewelers that advertise Hearts with cut grades are merely offering their own opinion. The GIA Certificate will not have a cut grade. Couples should also know there is no industry accepted standard of what makes an “Ideal Cut Heart Shaped Diamond.” That said, there are certain things look for to ensure your Heart is the graceful beauty you want. We have put together the table below as a guideline for evaluating Heart cut.

EVEN CONTRAST/BRILLIANCE

“Contrast” is dark areas of reflection within a diamond, whereas “brilliance” is light reflection! When looking for the most sparkly heart shaped stone, you want even areas of darkness and light. This allows for maximum play of light and sparkle.

Here is an example of a stone with even contrast/brilliance next to a stone with out it – note the second stone’s “washed out” appearance.

Additionally, here are the table and depth parameters to help ensure an ideal cut:

A diamond’s “color” is how white it is, or how much yellow or brown warmth it shows. Evaluating color in Heart diamonds is unique! Color can concentrate in the bottom point of your stone due to different faceting technique, so always look at each area of your gem. You want your stone to look the same color in all areas.

Luckily, the brilliance of a Heart will mask a bit of color, so G-H colored diamonds will often appear colorless. This is especially true in warmed toned metals like yellow or rose gold. In white metals, color matters a bit more.

Here is an example of an E colored heart diamond next to an I colored heart shape diamond:

The following is a short guide to what many of our couples decide:

A diamond’s “clarity” is how many, or how few, birthmarks (“inclusions”) it has. Almost all diamonds have birthmarks – just like us!

Heart cut diamonds are “brilliant” cut stones that produce a ton of sparkle. As a result, small inclusions can be hidden by well-placed facets. So, couples choosing a Heart cut diamond can often select VS2 clarity gems and still get a flawless, eye-clean look. Because clarity is graded by how obvious inclusions are, a larger diamond with a small inclusion will receive a better clarity grade than a smaller stone with the same size inclusion. That said, this also means larger stones may have small eye-visible inclusions that are not too distracting. So, always look over your stone carefully (we double check for “eye clean” clarity in every stone we sell and inform couples if they are not!).

Here is an example of an SI1 clarity heart next to a VS1 clarity heart diamond:

The following is what we recommend to our couples: