A diamond's culet is the point on the bottom of a diamond's pavilion. A
diamond's culet may be pointed or it may be blunted with a small facet. The
culet facet can vary in size. This culet's size determines the grade that
the culet is assigned.
When searching for your diamond you should choose a diamond within this
range:
-
Pointed
-
No culet
-
Very Small
-
Small
-
Medium.
Diamonds that possess culet sizes in these ranges are within the standards
allowed to receive highest grade of Ideal, AGS cut grade 0 as defined by the
AGS. Diamonds within these ranges do not have culets that are visible to the
naked eye when viewed from of the top of a diamond through the table facet.
Diamonds that have culet facets that are large to extremely large are less
desirable because the culet facet may be visible to the naked eye when
viewed through the table facet. Large culets are common in diamonds that
were cut in the early part of this century. They are often referred to as
Old European or Old Mine Cut Diamonds. Large culets may also indicate the
culet is chipped or broken off. Below is GIA's and other gemological
laboratories' list of abbreviations used on diamond certifications that
grade the condition of a diamond's culet.
-
N, NO, NON, - No Culet
-
P, PO, PN, PNT, - Pointed
-
VS, VSM, VRSM, - Very Small
-
S, SM, SML, - Small
-
M, ME, MD, MM, - Medium
-
L, LA, LG, - Large
-
VL, VLG, VRLG, - Very Large
-
EL, EX, EXLG, - Extremely Large
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