The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-20
Which are more costly, round cut

Which are more costly, round cut or emerald cut diamonds?
 That question was recently re- ceived from one of our readers. And the answer, Emerald cut diamonds are more costly than round cuts of equal weight and color" given by our Washington Service Bureau on the authority of an expert jew eler, was printed in the question and answer column. Another jew eler, seeing 1t, wrote the Bureau that the statement, according to his experience, was incorrect. The opposite versions-both from men regarded as experts in their pro- fession-were submitted to the editor of "The Jewellers Circular Keystone" regarded as the highest authori y on the subject. The in- formation which he furnished seems to indicate that the question Is large'y one of opinion, after all, He would be inclined to disagree with the original informant and to side with the man who disagreed With him.
 It seems that 1t Is difficult for anyone to give a categorical answer because diamonds are not a stan- darized, manufactured product, but Q product of nature. that occur in such infinite variety of qualities and combinations of qualities and size, that 1t Is seldom If ever one can place two diamonds side by side and say that one Is an exact duplicate of the other in both size and quality, except in the very smallest sizes, where there are such an enormous number to select from and where the differences may be so minute as to be immaterial, con- sidering their comparatively small total value anyway.
 Structure and Brilliance
 There are more factors in arriv- ing at the value of a diamond than It's weight and color. Those are two important ones, of course, but also important Is the freedom from flaws inclusions and imperfections. Of two stones of equal weight and color one may be worth four or five times as much as the other, simply be- cause of its higher degree of per- lection of structure. Another fac- tor Is the comparative fire or bril- liance. When all of these things are considered it is entire.y pos sible that. of two stones of ap- proximately equal weight and of matching color, one of which Is brilliant cut and the other emerald cut, the latter might be the more valuable of that particular pair. But in another pair. which also are of equal weight and equally fine color, the superior qualities in other 1 respects of the one that is bril- liant cut might make it the more valuable of the second pair.
 1 Perhaps one thing that may in- fluence 8 good jeweler toward em- erald cut diamonds is the fact that he emerald style of cutting is apt to make the inperfections of the stone, if any, somewhat more ap- parent than they might be with the same stone cut as a brilliant. Con- sequently. as a general rule, only the better grade of diamonds are emerald cut. Also. because the em- erald cutting doesn't give quite as much fire and sparkle as the bril- liant cut, it takes larger stone to look well with emerald cutting than in the other style, and while diamonds may be cut in the form Of brilliants down to comparatively small sections of one karat. it is seldom that they are emerald cut in sizes smaller than one karat in fact. most stones in this cute ting will be from two karats up- ward.