Now that you are all experts on a Diamond’s lustre and the amazing brilliance this is responsible for..when’re ally understand what you are seeing when you fiddle around with your engagement ring How about the other crucial component of a Diamond’s visual wow factor it’s ‘fire‘?

What IS that? This is all to do with the diamond’s cut, which is where we left you last time

Fire Diamond Fire actually refers to those coloured flashes of light, those tiny rainbows, that you see, especially in particular settings (candle lit restaurants, under spotlights in shops). These are the result of how ‘white light’ (what you see around you everyday) is bent when leaving a diamond and splits into its component seven colours.

Which colours you see and how much actual colour you see are all determined by the cut and this in turn is all about how many facets there are in the first place and how large or small the top, side and bottom facets of the diamond are, as well as the very important differing angles that form between these various facets of the stone.

An example to illustrate- the round brilliant cut diamond that we all know well supposedly has the ideal proportions – link to ideal proportions on diamond education page – that allow a nice mix of white light and coloured flashes to come from its surface. A baguette or Princess cut (square shape) have less facets and hence surfaces through which light can be bent and split into colours. A baguette has much more white light reflected off it.
Our friends across the big pond actually love their fire and diamond proportions are often such that they are tweaked to allow for more colour flashes and less white light reflection than the Europeans like!

So, next time you are shopping for a diamond ring, diamond pendant or loose diamond, you’ll know just that bit more to help you understand why you are liking one stone and not another.

Are you a fire or an ice person?!

Find out more in our diamond knowledge centre.

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