The Hearts & Arrows Diamond:

Only a small percentage of diamonds cut every year would receive the highest grade for cutting on the American Gem Society’s influential 0 - 10 scale. Ironically, all or nearly all of them could. It’s just a matter of human will.

Today new diamond imaging technology has reawakened the appetite for quality. It’s already happened in Japan. A decade ago, a visionary named Takanori Tamura built a diamond business on a commitment to perfection. And because of his uncompromising devotion to high standards, the super ideal cut was born.

How did Tamura know his diamonds were perfect? An instrument called the Firescope, invented as a means to demonstrate the superiority of one diamond over another, showed an eight-rayed reflection pattern in stones cut with perfect symmetry and ideal proportions.

Tamura realized this pattern bore a resemblance to an ancient mandala that represents the eight-spoked wheel of dharma, a central icon of Buddhism synonymous with spiritual perfection. Although other diamonds cut to ideal proportions possessed life, fire, and symmetry, Tamura refused to buy them unless they displayed the unique emblem of perfection he called the “eight star pattern” under the Firescope. This pattern, and the similar perfect “hearts and arrow” patterns, are products of a quest for ultimate beauty in a diamond.

You  don’t have to be a Buddhist to understand how deeply Tamura felt about diamond beauty and the responsibility of cutters to make each stone the highest expression of it. This is what the recent revolution is about: the ideal-cut diamond as an archetype of perfection. In the United States our symbol for perfection is a diamond that conforms to a set of angles and proportions first set down by Marcel Tolkowsky -- a member of a Belgian cutting family-- In 1919 he published a short paper entitled Diamond Design. This was the first analysis of diamond cutting design based on modern scientific theories of light behavior. Although Diamond design was first published in England, Tolkowsky’s design is often called the “American Ideal” because U.S. Cutters were the first to produce it in significant quantities.

In the 1950’s the American Gem Society (AGS) adopted Tolkowsky’s model as its standard for grading cut. The only modification to the basic design were establishing limited ranges for table size, crown height, pavilion depth and girdle thickness. In 1995, the updated model was renamed the AGS Ideal Cut. The demand for diamonds cut according to the AGS Ideal has increased substantially, and today numerous cutters are producing designs

The AGS Ideal 0 Cut grade represents the best in diamond cutting: AGS 0 is only assigned to a diamond in which correct proportions, precise symmetry, and fine polish are combined to produce an optimum display of brilliance, scintillation and dispersion. The impression is a harmonious balance between the physical dimensions of the diamond and the optical components of its beauty.

Please be aware that not all diamonds with AGS Ideal 0 cut grade will display the eight star pattern or hearts and arrows pattern when viewed through the Firescope. Diamonds that display these patterns are special and are considered super ideal cuts or high ideal cuts. They have virtually perfect cut and symmetry. The diagram shows six different diamonds that received Ideal 0 cut grades from the AGS Gem Trade Laboratory. However, all six do not display the eight-star pattern under the Firescope.

It is important to know that one will normally pay higher prices for eight star or hearts and arrows diamonds than those typically charged on AGS 0 ideal cut diamonds which do not display the pattern. This is because extra time was devoted to a special cutting process that ensures the integrity of the eight star or the hearts and arrows pattern. It is virtually impossible to distinguish the subtle differences in appearance between diamonds that have AGS 0 ideal cut and those that have the eight star or hearts and arrows cut under normal viewing conditions. The pattern can only be seen using the Firescope or Di-Star scope.

Di-Star in Boston, Massachusetts, uses a compact version of Japans famous hearts and arrows viewer which it has trade-marked as “Hearts on Fire” The Di-Star scope shows hearts and arrows patterns when a diamond is well proportioned. The hearts pattern is only visible through the pavilion, or the back of the diamond, and the arrow pattern is only visible through the table, or the top of the diamond.

If you have any questions regarding eight-star or hearts and arrows diamonds, call our Certified Gemologist at 1-800-766-7119.  Certified-Plus Diamonds have a quantity of available eight star and hearts and arrows diamonds at very low prices. Many are not listed on our 20,000 diamond searchable database.