The diamond cutting process is obviously one of the most important steps to create a polished and glittering diamond from a rough diamond one. There are various centers across the world known for their diamond cutting. Here are the best centers.

Antwerp is probably the world’s oldest cutting center and it was a key center for the European gem trade in the middle ages. It is very well known for its cutting of large diamond rough and a very important center in this industry today. About 80 percent of the world’s diamonds pass through this center.

Russia started its diamond cutting industry in a small manner. Small workshops were set up where the cutting work was completed. However, the discovery of the rich diamond deposits in Siberia turned the course of diamond cutting industry in Russia in 1955. The Russian cut diamonds soon began to be known for their precision and finesse.

Another center that emerged post the World War II was Tel Aviv. While the country produced small cut diamonds initially, they soon became the top producers of large diamonds and fancy, unique cuts. Tel Aviv is probably the most technologically advanced diamond cutting center as of now and exports around $4 billion worth of polished fancy cut diamonds. Most of these diamonds coming out of Israel are actually absorbed by the US market.

The diamond cutting industry in India prospered more when the Argyle diamond mines were found in Western Australia. These mines produced large amounts of small sized roughs that were suited to be cut as small diamonds. An expensive diamond cutting center would not at all be feasible for such work since the high labour cost would ultimately get passed on to the cost of making small diamonds and thus making them unaffordable and heavily priced. Therefore, India was a natural choice due to its cheap labor and large workforce. The main places where diamond cutting takes place in India are Maharashtra and Gujrat.

New York is known for its special cuts, especially for large diamonds. The beauty of the diamond cuts and the size almost equals that of Tel Aviv and Antwerp. Since the labor costs are high in New York, the cutting center confines its operations to large high quality extraordinary diamonds, some of which adorn the fingers, wrists, necks and ears of the wealthiest diamond lovers in the world.

Canada with its new discoverd mines, is the most recent entrant in to this area. This has happened due to the discovery of Ekati diamond mines that are under development in the northern tundra. The government would like the locals to benefit from this find and therefore a certain amount of stock of roughs is being sold to the local diamond cutters.

Above is a representation for the most popular diamond cutting centers in the world. Although each cutting center is known for its specialty, they generally have the same point that as diamond mines were discovered and developed and made professional, specific diamond cutting centers were identified based on their proximity, labor cost, specific expertise and skill.

For loose diamonds, you must distinguish a real diamond from a fake diamond. You also need to know how to gauge their quality. Here are standards including the Cut, the Clarity, the Color, and the Carat that help you purchase the highest quality loose diamonds.

When a loose diamonds expert describes the cut of each diamond, he is referring to how the diamond was cut so that its brilliance is stunning to the naked eye. The cut of the diamond will allow this gem to reflect light much better compared to the badly or poorly cut diamonds. When you encounter an artisan who has mastered the fine art of cutting diamonds, he can literally transform each diamond that passes through his hands into a masterpiece. But a novice or untalented artisan who gets even the best rough diamonds will produce badly cut diamonds that would never pass scrutiny at any time.

The clarity of loose diamonds becomes apparent when each stone is handled under 10-power magnification. This helps the artisan see if the loose diamonds have any surface flaws because surface flaws will diminish the brilliance of the final product. The rating for diamonds based on clarity start at “completely flawless” (which means these are the loose diamonds of the highest caliber) and culminate with “noticeably imperfect” (which means these are the loose diamonds with the lowest possible rating a gemologist can give). The “completely flawless” loose diamonds will sparkle the brightest under light.

The most desirable color for any loose diamonds is crystal clarity with zero color. But in reality, diamonds come in a host of colors aside from being just clear diamonds. You can get diamonds that may start at color yellow then progress to brown, and even some loose diamonds that have rare colors such as blue, green, and pink. (If you have ever heard of the famed “Pink Panther” diamond, then you probably know this is true.) There are other colors too for diamonds, dubbed “fancies.” The highest possible rating based on color is D (for those diamonds that are crystal clear with zero color) while the lowest possible rating is Z (for those diamonds that are colored a robust yellow.) It is believed that a diamond with zero color sparkles the best, especially when you compare it with colored diamonds.

All loose diamonds are measured in terms of carats when their weight is considered. Each carat is made up of 100 points. If, for instance, you have a diamond that merits 75 points then it is said that diamond weighs .75 carats. It does not automatically follow that two diamonds with equal points (meaning they have equal carats) have equivalent value though. Carat weight only helps you determine which diamonds have the biggest size but total quality per diamond is measured by combining each of the 4 C’s during appraisal. That is why you can get diamonds of superior quality which are much smaller than other diamonds of lesser quality.