What is a heart and arrow diamond?

Maybe you have heard of them, or maybe this is totally new. I am talking about the Heart and Arrow cut diamonds.

Heart and Arrows, often abbreviated H&A, refer to round brilliant diamonds, which are cut to a very high degree of three-dimensional symmetry. The eye tends to appreciate the H&A diamonds more than brilliant cut diamonds as our brains love symmetry.

They appear like completely ‘normal’ brilliant cut diamonds, but when placed under a special light, you will see this:

H&A diamonds examined in a special reflector device will show a distinct pattern of 8 arrows when viewed from the top, and 8 hearts when viewed from the bottom.

Some diamond cutters have also tried to make the heart and arrow pattern visible in cushion cut diamonds, but it is most commonly seen in brilliant cut diamonds.

It is very difficult for a diamond cutter to achieve the level of precision necessary to cut Heart and Arrows, and it requires more skill, more time, and the loss of more weight from the uncut diamond. These are the main reasons why H&A diamonds are more expensive than brilliant cut diamonds. Achieving optical symmetry requires a process of making sure all of the tiny facet’s line up perfectly against their counterparts on the opposite side of the brilliant. Only when perfectly cut, the diamond will show a well-defined pattern of the hearts and arrows.

What does this mean for you?

This basically means that a diamond cut in Heart and Arrow will display more light performance, and will shine more. It will be completely symmetrical and will exhibit the “fire” we all love to see in diamonds (fire is all the rainbow colours reflected from a diamond in the sunshine)

Is it worth the extra price?

If you ask me, YES. I think it’s a very romantic concept to have hidden hearts in a diamond, and I also love the fact that it’s cut to perfection.