By Gary A.
Edited by Brian M.
Published Sep 18, 2021
Edited on Sep 27, 2024
When it comes to maximizing brilliance, a Heart & Arrows Diamond stands out for its precise craftsmanship—but is it the right choice for your engagement ring?
Navigate This Guide:
It’s no secret that a diamond’s cut is the key to its sparkle. Any prospective buyer will, for that reason alone, do well to limit their search to include only those diamonds that have been graded high in this category according to the GIA’s incredibly high standards.
As a result, you’ve probably already familiarised yourself with the GIA’s cut grades – and, hopefully, committed yourself to the Excellent and Very Good categories in order to guarantee high levels of brilliance, fire and scintillation. Doing so makes the process of finding a worthwhile diamond much easier.
Still, the world of well-cut diamonds is not quite as simple as that. There is another term that you will likely see attached to certain diamonds on the market, expressed either as ‘triple excellent’, ‘triple x’ or ‘GIA 3X diamonds’. While not an official grade on the GIA’s scale, it refers to the very best diamonds that pass through the GIA’s labs – although they may not represent the very best diamonds for you.
So, what does a triple excellent diamond mean? Put simply, 3X (or triple excellent) refers to Round diamonds that have been graded Excellent for cut, symmetry and polish. It is a term used by jewelers, not the GIA themselves.
In any GIA report, one of the first things that you will notice is the subcategories listed for these three features. Each one is, of course, graded in the exact same way that the overall Cut category is: from Excellent and Very Good (the only two grades we would recommend) through Good, Fair, and Poor.
When a Round diamond scores the top grade in every subcategory, it is referred to colloquially as triple excellent – or 3X – and, understandably, considered to represent a very high-quality diamond.
Remember, however, that as the GIA does not officially recognize this label, it is not something that you will see printed in your diamond’s GIA report. As a term, it’s far more likely to crop up in promotional materials for certain vendors and jewelry stores.
Triple excellent diamonds can only ever be Round cut because only the Round cut is graded on Cut quality. Other shapes are graded for polish and symmetry, but the ROund Brilliant receives an additional grade that is essential for determining triple x diamonds.
Before we dive deeper into the specifics, here are some practical tips to help guide your decision-making process:
Now that you’ve got these practical tips, use Jeweler AI below to find the perfect engagement ring that suits your style and budget:
Three factors – all equally important for a diamond to be Triple Excellent. Here’s what you need to know.
Perhaps the most important thing to note about the GIA’s approach to cut quality is the fact that they only provide an overall ‘Cut’ grade for Round diamonds. This is why you will only ever find Triple Excellent Round cut diamonds – rather than Pear, Oval or any other shape. For it to be triple Excellent, it has to be given an Excellent cut grade.
According to the GIA, a diamond given an Excellent cut grade is very bright, and features a strong balance between light and dark areas within the stone. The facets are even and the reflections sharp.
While the finer points that mark the difference between an Excellent cut and a Very Good or Good cut are only going to be noticed by an experienced diamond grader or jeweler, you will find that plenty of differences stand out to you, even at the very start of your diamond-buying journey.
A diamond with Excellent symmetry will feature facets that align perfectly at the girdle – for instance, the points of the pyramids on the crown will align with the points of the pyramids on the pavilion – a well-centred table, even shape and no additional facets.
Asymmetries can be glaringly obvious, or they can be just subtle enough that you may not notice them at first and second glance. Some asymmetries can be more obvious once the diamond is placed within its setting – and, even if you’re never able to detect them yourself, they can still alter the brilliance of the diamond and prevent it from sparkling as it otherwise should.
Symmetry is central to the diamond’s brilliance, and only Excellent or Very Good grades should be considered. A lack of symmetry can impair a diamond’s ability to produce as much brilliance as you’d want it to.
If you’ve ever seen a rough (uncut) diamond, you’ll know that a diamond’s facets are the reason it sparkles the way it does. Without them – and, of course, without a high-quality polish – diamond appears pretty dull and unassuming, particularly to those who have only ever encountered diamonds after they have been cut, polished and set within a beautiful ring.
These facets can’t just be placed wherever the cutter sees fit, however. Taking the time to figure out how to get the most symmetry out of a diamond is an essential step in diamond cutting and, for a buyer, checking for a high symmetry grade is an essential step in making a good investment.
After the cuts have been made, and the final shape of the diamond has been realised, the finishing step is to polish each of those facets and to ensure the smoothest, glossiest surfaces possible for reflecting light. GIA graders look for any slight flaws that may have been caused by this process.
While polishing will rarely cause any significant issues for a diamond, polishing can easily cause abrasions, scruff marks and burns – among other things – that impact the appearance and sparkle of a diamond.
Still, as we mentioned, these surface defects typically remain relatively minor – and will look far worse in magnified images of the diamond than they do when you are looking at the stone in person, without magnification.
Symmetry is typically considered to be marginally more important to the diamond’s brilliance than polish, but it is important that you do not overlook the significance of a strong grade in this area, either.
The GIA is the only lab we trust to grade the diamonds we sell to our customers. They’re leaders of the pack in terms of consistency and standards which means that, if a diamond is graded Triple Excellent, you can trust that it truly lives up to its grading report.
You can read more about the GIA here.
Triple Excellent diamonds will naturally present themselves as very brilliant, fiery, high-quality cuts. Keep in mind, however, that Cut is not everything. It’s very important, but it’s not capable of making a yellow or severely injured diamond look perfect.
Also remember that, in order to be given an Excellent cut grade, a diamond does not need to be triple excellent. The GIA will still award Excellent cut grades to diamonds featuring ‘Very Good’ symmetry or polish, because of the fact that the differences between those top two grades are microscopic and nowhere near significant enough to bring down the diamond’s overall appearance.
Buyers with a limited understanding of the importance of each grade and feature will be reassured by the fact that these diamonds have been given ‘top grades’ across each category.
And, obviously, there is some merit to that. There’s nothing wrong with triple excellent diamonds, and they do guarantee a high level of quality in the most important of the Four Cs, but they are also given a much higher price because of that – a price that doesn’t necessarily need to be paid by anyone looking to purchase a beautiful and sparkly diamond.
Beautifully cut diamonds are more than worth the higher investment they require, but they don’t have to be triple excellent to tick all the boxes required to make a knock-out engagement ring.
Even triple excellent diamonds can be afflicted by strong fluorescence, visible inclusions, or a tangible yellow color – and, if they are, Excellent grades across symmetry and polish won’t be enough to compensate for its flaws.