Diamond Polish

Should I Pay Extra for Better Polish?

What is the “Polish” factor, and is it worth money?

When looking at details of diamonds, one of the factors listed is the polish level of the stone. You might see it listed as “Excellent”, “Very Good”, “Good”, etc.

Obviously the dealer is going to be charging you more for a good polish than a bad one, and the higher the level of polish, the more they will tack on to the price. Polish can add up to about 10% or so to the price of a diamond.

What is polish?

Diamond Polish

Polish is a way of enhancing the stone by polishing the surface to make it smoother. You can get a higher grade polish by polishing for longer and using finer diamond dust on the polishing machine – just like when you sharpen knives…

Polish Quality

The truth is that the polish does not really add any quality to the diamond. A poor polish could reduce the intensity of the light reflected from the diamond. A high polish will allow more light to be reflected and might make the diamond appear more brilliant. How much of an effect it actually has is a matter of debate, but it is reasonable to say that it has some effect.

The question is whether it is worth paying more for a higher polish.

The difference between an excellent, very good or good polish is impossible to see even under a 10x loupe. I would therefore say that it is not worth paying more to get an excellent polished stone over a very good, or even a good. The only time you might consider it worthwhile to pay for “excellent” is if you are buying a flawless stone with low color and clarity. In such a case, paying a bit extra for an excellent polish can be justified.

In any other diamond, where the clarity is not flawless and has slight inclusions, or the color is anything higher than F, the polish will have almost no effect on the diamond and you should not pay more to get a higher grade.

Needless to say, you still want to avoid the “poor” grade of polish. The diamond will look duller and deader, as less light is reflected. Once you are buying a diamond, you might as well get one that looks nice. I would recommend getting a smaller diamond that looks nicer over a larger diamond that looks dull and dead.

Questions? Don’t understand something someone told you about diamonds? Not sure if you should really buy that diamond? Email me at diamonds@clarityofdiamonds.com and ask!

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