Diamonds & Engagement
Fine Jewelry
What Is Diamond Polish?
Polish influences how well light is able to pass through a diamond. It is a very important attribute in determining a diamond's overall brilliance. When choosing a diamond, it is best to pick one that is laboratory certified with good, very good or excellent polish. Diamonds with poor polish are significantly less brilliant because they have microscopic polish lines that blur the surface of the stone. They also reduce the amount of light that enters or exits the diamond. Be aware that many diamond have a poor polish because diamond cutters try and reduce costs by not spending sufficient time to properly polish a diamond.
How Is Polish Graded?
Polish is graded the same way symmetry is. On an GIA report, the grades are Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair or Poor. The same applies for AGS reports, except they also include ideal in their list.
- EX or E - Excellent, Flawless at 10 power
- VG or VGD - Very Good, Extremely difficult to locate under 10 power
- GD, GO, G - Good, Very difficult to see under 10 power
- F, FR, FA - Fair, Noticeable under 10 power
- PR, PO, P - Poor, Easy to see under 10X / Visible to unaided eye
- VP, VE - Very Poor, Relatively easy to see with the unaided eye
- EX or EP - Extremely Poor, Obvious to see with unaided eye
To the naked eye, there is very little difference between these ratings. A diamond with a polish rating of Good can still be a remarkable stone. It is only using magnification that the differences in these ratings become clearer. There are also ratings of Fair (FR) and Poor (PR), meaning that the flaws in the polish are visible to the naked eye and affect the overall beauty of the diamond.
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