How much should a one carat diamond weigh? Where do Panama hats come from? How long did the 100 Year War last? In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? What is the color of the Black Box on a commercial airline? What is a camel-hair brush made of? What was King George the VI first name? Where do Chinese gooseberries come from? While the answers to the questions may seem obvious, more than likely you’d be surprised that they aren’t. Panama hats don’t come from Panama. The 100 Year War didn’t last 100 years. The Russians don’t celebrate the October Revolution in October. The airlines’ Black Box isn’t black. A camel-hair brush has no camel hair. King George’s first name isn’t George. Chinese gooseberries aren’t from China. And one carat diamonds offered for sale rarely, truly, would weigh one carat if cut correctly.

Diamonds are a lot like people. They come in all shapes and sizes and just like people they can carry a little extra weight. In fact, in the community of diamonds, more diamonds are “overweight” than in the community of people: Up to 88% of all diamonds. The sad part is that it’s the diamond industry that is purposely producing all of these chubby diamonds! In 1919, over 80 years ago, a gentleman by the name of Marcel Tolkowsky determined that the diamond industry as a whole was cutting diamonds incorrectly and adversely affecting the diamond’s sparkle. Mr. Tolkowsky released a paper on the correct way to cut a diamond so it would have maximum sparkle (light return); no excess body fat. The Tolkowsky cut ended up becoming the American ideal. Subsequently, in the 1950’s, a gentleman by the name of R.W. Ditchburn applied the same mathematics in order to trim the fat off the other shapes (marquise, pear, oval, etc.). For decades if you asked for a well cut “Ideal” diamond of a particular size, you got it. Then the marketeers convinced the public that a one carat diamond or more was the dream size. That’s where the problems crept in. Diamond cutters all over the world started inventing their own criteria for “a well proportioned stone” so they could fatten up the diamond. It made me wonder “where’s the beef?” I don’t mean to sound like an old Wendy’s commercial but clearly we have a problem when 75% to 88% of all one carat diamonds are overweight! Just like in the Wendy’s commercial where there was a whole lot of bun and very little meat, we are running into the same problem today with diamonds that should be 1 carat but are cut fat so they will tip the scales over one carat.

Solution: The only way the problem is going to be solved is for the diamond buying public to start asking for the diamond’s “True Weight,” (A diamond in which the crown height plus max girdle thickness plus pavilion depth equals the total depth percentage and whose proportions meet class I or class II criteria.) I’ve never met a jeweler who will volunteer to the consumer that the device used to measure the diamond’s vitals (sarin or megascope machine) also has a fat content measuring button! It’s called the re-cut feature. Once a diamond has been analyzed, all the grader has to do is enter the recorded data into the re-cut program, enter the desired results, (like a plastic surgeon showing you what your nose will look like after the surgery) and click the mouse. In seconds the re-cut program will announce what the diamond should have weighed if it had been cut correctly vs. its current weight. Practically every diamond compared is overweight by 20%-30%!
It is the diamond’s “TRUE WEIGHT” we should be paying for, not extras left on by the cutter. If enough of us demand to only pay for a diamond’s “True Weight” versus its “over-weight” then maybe some day the cutters will get the message.

By the way, Panama hats are from Ecuador. The 100 Year War lasted 116 years. The Russian Revolution is celebrated in November. The Black Box is orange. A camel-hair brush is made from squirrel fur. King George’s first name was Albert. Chinese gooseberries come from New Zealand and a one carat diamond’s “True Weight” is usually only 75 points.