| The hearts and arrows diamond is a rare and | | | | the pattern will be incomplete, misaligned, faded or |
| special gemstone. It is a visual phenomenon that | | | | distorted in appearance. |
| appears in the finest ideal cut round brilliant | | | | A Well Deserved Price? |
| diamonds. For this reason, it commands a higher | | | | To gain the optimum hearts and arrows diamond |
| premium. But is it really worth the considerable | | | | reflection and refraction of light, it requires a 15% |
| markup? Lets take a look at the findings. | | | | greater waste of the original rough stone. And |
| Record Of Events | | | | while it takes approximately an hour to cut a |
| The history of hearts and arrows, or H&A | | | | standard round brilliant, it can take up to 4 days |
| can be traced back to Japan. In the late 1970's | | | | or even longer to finish a H&A stone |
| and early 1908's, the Japanese began working on | | | | because of the precision needed in symmetry. |
| micro-studies of diamond cut which lead to the | | | | Due to the large amount of meticulousness |
| development of a special viewer called the | | | | involved, only a small percentage, about 1 tenth |
| Firescope. The firescope was a light-mapping | | | | of 1% of diamonds will display this pattern. The |
| instrument which was used to help evaluate the | | | | greater time in cutting, increased diamond waste |
| quality of diamonds in relation to one another. It | | | | and the high demand for these gemstones are |
| was in the late 1980's when Takanori Tamura | | | | the reasons for the extra markup in prices. |
| first noticed the patterning that he saw as a | | | | You Decide |
| mandala, or the Buddhist 8-spoked wheel of life, | | | | Although the hearts and arrows property is an |
| and which we recognize as a set of 8 hearts and | | | | indication of a top-tier cut, it doesn't always mean |
| 8 arrows. Of the tens of thousands of diamonds | | | | the gemstone will be the most brilliant. It is the |
| Mr. Tamura observed, almost none displayed this | | | | overall geometry of a diamond that determines |
| special pattern. After years of extensive research | | | | it's light performance. A stone can display the |
| and experimenting, he commissioned cutter Kioishi | | | | perfect H&A pattern but not have ideal cut |
| Higuchi to cut a stone with the highest possible | | | | proportions. On the other hand, one can have ideal |
| light return which boasted an eight arrowed | | | | cut proportions and not display the pattern at all. |
| pattern. Known as the Eightstar diamond, it | | | | This is because there is no link between optical |
| became the predecessor of hearts and arrows. | | | | symmetry and ideal proportions. Furthermore, |
| By the early 1990's, a H&A viewer was | | | | there is no direct tie between optical symmetry |
| developed which allowed viewers to analyze not | | | | and symmetry grade. Symmetry grades seen on |
| only the optical performance of a stone, but also | | | | laboratory grading reports assess the neatness of |
| it's cut symmetry and facet alignment in the | | | | facet intersections and external placement. The |
| crown and pavilion. Not long after that, the first | | | | optical symmetry seen with a hearts and arrows |
| H&A gemstone was cut in Japan. | | | | viewer is produced by the internal movement of |
| Superior Craftsmanship | | | | light through the stone and how it is reflected by |
| This phenomenal pattern appears in brilliant cut | | | | the size, shape and placement of facets. It is for |
| stones that have very good parallelism and | | | | these reasons that the GIA and AGS do not |
| symmetry. When viewed from the crown, a | | | | grade the hearts and arrows pattern. Their |
| series of 8 arrowheads are seen, which are the 8 | | | | research has not shown that consumers |
| pavilion main facets. The 8 heart shapes can be | | | | preferred these stones to other ideal cut |
| seen when viewed through the pavilion and are | | | | diamonds without the pattern. |
| the result of the reflection of 16 lower girdle | | | | A hearts and arrows diamond is a rare and |
| facets located in the table of the stone. Only a | | | | beautiful gemstone that takes time and precision |
| true master cutter can create hearts and arrows | | | | to create. So is it really worth the premium? A |
| diamonds. H&A diamond bezel, star, lower | | | | diamond is worth what you think it is. If you love |
| girdle, upper girdle and pavilion main facets must | | | | the H&A pattern and enjoy having |
| be aligned precisely 180 degrees opposite each | | | | something that few have, then it is worth it and |
| other for this effect to occur. All the facets must | | | | more. |
| additionally be the exact size and shape, otherwise | | | | |