When submitting a cutting request, should jewelers provide angles or percentages?

• A. Percentages
• B. Angles
• C. The certificate number
• D. The eye appeal

Answer: (B)

Angles are what you specify when submitting a cutting request because the way light behaves inside a diamond is fixed by the geometry of its facets. The crown angle and pavilion angle (and often the table width) determine how light enters, reflects, and exits the stone, producing brilliance, fire, and scintillation. Providing angles gives the cutter a precise set of measurements to recreate the intended optical performance; percentages alone describe size relationships but don’t pin down the exact facet meeting points, so they can lead to inconsistent results across different cutters or machines. The certificate number and eye appeal aren’t instructions for shaping the stone, whereas specifying angles directly controls the cut’s critical geometry.