What is an "ideal diamond?"

Be careful of diamonds labeled "ideal" or "perfect." These are marketing, not gemological terms.

The term "ideal" is used rather loosely in the jewelry industry; for instance, there are "ideal-cut diamonds," which have specific measurements for each angle and proportion. Only if a diamond's cut matches every one of these parameters should it be referred to as "ideal." Very often, however, people incorrectly label a diamond as "ideal" when only its table and depth percentages fall into the ideal-cut parameters.

The term "ideal" is also not a Gemological Institute of America (GIA) term. 95% of the time, an ideal-cut diamond will receive an "Excellent" cut grade on a GIA grading report, while 5% of the time it will receive a "Very Good" cut grade.

Ideal-cut diamonds are not ideal for everyone. Although they're truly beautiful, they typically have a small table percentage. This means they exhibit more fire (rainbow colors) and less brilliance (pure white-light return). Some customers prefer white-light return over rainbow colors. In addition, a small table percentage usually makes a diamond appear a bit smaller than one with a larger table percentage.

We recommend searching for an "excellent" or "very good" cut diamond rather than one termed "ideal."