Hearts and arrows

Hearts and arrows

Hearts and arrows is a style of cut used for round brilliant diamonds. Looking at the pattern is also a way of measuring optical symmetry, while gem laboratories only measure physical symmetry.

The Hearts and Arrows pattern appears in brilliant-cut diamonds that have very good parallelism and symmetry. When viewed from above, the "crown", the pattern is a series of eight gray arrowheads. From below, the "pavilion", the pattern appears as eight heart shapes. Hearts and Arrows viewers eliminate incoming light from certain angles and cause the pattern to appear black or very dark gray. In order to display this pattern flawlessly, the diamond's top facet or "table facet" must be exactly perpendicular to the bottom of the diamond or "pavilion". It must also be cut to have great symmetry of its major facets and have particular lengths of its lower girdle facets.

Diamonds with a Hearts and Arrows cut command a price premium in the world's market, reflecting the generally greater time needed to produce them and the greater loss of weight from rough, as well as their generally better overall cut quality. It has also become a popular sales tool in diamond marketing. Although the «Hearts and Arrows» property is indicative of a top-tier cut, it does not always mean the diamond will be the most brilliant. Optimal facet placement is the key to brilliance and more important than facet patterning. Some people may dislike the hearts and arrows patterning as well, since they may see dark arrow-shaped shadows in their diamond under certain lighting conditions.While the major facets must be very symmetrical, there is considerable room for variation in cut quality and appearance from the "minor" facets, and from the angles of the major facets.

Hearts and Arrows labelling

Some in the diamond industry disagree on which diamonds should receive the "Hearts and Arrows" label. Because there is no industry standard, one person or company may say a diamond is a Hearts and Arrows diamond while another may say it is not. [ [http://www.diamond.info/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=3283 Gia - Excellent Cut Grade - Diamond Review ] ] Most diamonds with an overall cut graded by GIA as "Excellent" (with Excellent symmetry as well) or American Gem Society as "0" (or "Ideal") will have some sort of hearts and arrows pattern when seen through a viewer, although the pattern may not be perfect. Some in the diamond industry believe the Hearts and Arrows pattern should be graded, and only those with the top grade should be called Hearts and Arrows. Those people believe just the presence of Hearts and Arrows pattern alone is not enough to be considered a hearts and arrows diamond, the pattern must be perfect to within certain guidelines.

History

The timeline of the evolution of Hearts and Arrows is:
* 1977-1984 Ken Shigetomi et al perform research to develop the FireScope.
* Kazumi Okuda contracted by Ken Shigetomi develops a tool based upon Shigetomi's research to help examine diamond cut, this device eventually becomes the FireScope.
* 1985 First EightStar diamond cut by Higuchi for Takanori Tamura in Tokyo after research using the Firescope.A worldwide search to find diamonds which gave a perfect result in it found almost none out of tens of thousands examined.
* 1987 First "copy" of EightStar by Ken Shigetomi of Tokyo, called "Apollon 8".Shigetomi's company fails because of quality control problems.
* 1988 Kinsaku Yamashita, A salesman for "Apollon 8" buys the remaining "Apollon 8" diamonds, develops relationships with the "Apollon 8" subcontractors and renames the cuts "Hearts and Arrows". Kinsaku Yamashita also patents the Heart and Arrow viewer and copyrights the words "Heart and Arrow". [ [http://www.goodoldgold.com/Technologies/ReflectorTechnologies/History/ History - GoodOldGold.com ] ]
* 1997 " [http://www.heartsonfire.com/ Hearts on Fire] " brands in the US and is the first Hearts and Arrows branded diamond to be sold in retail stores.

The different cuts each have somewhat different appearances and balance of features and aren't complete, literal copies of the EightStar cut.

References

* [http://www.eurostardiamond.com/diamonds/index.html Video: How a Diamond is Cut and Polished at Eurostar Diamonds International]
* [http://www.igiworldwide.com/en/rep_dia_hearts.htm International Gemological Institute's Hearts and Arrows Diamond Report]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • PROPHETS AND PROPHECY — This article is arranged according to the following outline: in the bible classifications nature of prophecy origin and function dreams divination pre classical prophets terminology group prophecy ecstasy group life of prophets role in society… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Law and Chaos — are the dominant metaphysical forces in the fantasy stories of Michael Moorcock, which he derived from Poul Anderson (especially his Three Hearts and Three Lions ). Law and Chaos are in constant struggle, but they are kept in check by the Cosmic… …   Wikipedia

  • Kurukshetra War and the Kambojas — Among the Kshatriya tribes who had participated in the Kurukshetra war, the Kambojas occupy a very prominent place. They were the allies of Duryodhana and by their bravery, and especially the prowess of their king Sudakshina, they had rendered… …   Wikipedia

  • weapons and warfare, land —    Mesopotamia was not only the site of the world s first cities, but also of humanity s first major land armies and wars. Archaeological evidence shows that small scale fighting among tribes and villages was an inevitable phenomenon across the… …   Ancient Mesopotamia dictioary

  • Timeline of progressive rock and progressive metal — This is a list of events, artists, and albums constituting a timeline of major developments in progressive rock and progressive metal.Contents1962 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 …   Wikipedia

  • List of superheroes and villains without superpowers — What follows is a list of superheroes and supervillains who do not possess superpowers, but they have the skills to make up for them. Contents 1 DC Comics heroes 2 DC Comics villains 3 Marvel Comics heroes …   Wikipedia

  • Circumcision in cultures and religions — Male circumcision, when practiced as a rite, has its foundations in the Bible, in the Abrahamic covenant, such as ), thus it is commonly observed by the Abrahamic religions.The penalty of non observance was karet , excision from the people ().… …   Wikipedia

  • art and architecture, Oceanic — ▪ visual arts Introduction       the visual art (art) and architecture of native Oceania, including media such as sculpture, pottery, rock art, basketry, masks, painting, and personal decoration. In these cultures, art and architecture have often …   Universalium

  • Russian Language and Literature — • Russian is a Slav language belonging to the Indo European family Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Russian Language and Literature     Russian Language and Literature …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • List of rock and roll performers — This is a list of rock and roll performers.Early North American rock and roll (1951 1963)*The Beach Boys *Bill Haley His Comets key contributor of the rockabilly revolution from R B to rock and roll; Rocket 88 , Rock Around the Clock *Bo Diddley… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”