Reflection of light
To start off right: a diamond itself does not shine, it reflects light which gives them their beautiful sparkle. This has three main causes: internal reflection, refraction, and dispersion.
Internal reflection
When it comes to light hitting a diamond, only a small part of the light is reflected. Light enters through the top of the diamond and is cut at an angle from inside the diamond. This happens from top to bottom. Depending on where the light hits, refraction and dispersion occurs. This creates natural light and dark areas. The process of dispersion distributes light, which, therefore ‘makes’ a diamond shine.Refraction
Transparent materials such as diamonds have a critical angle where light reflects internally on to the surface. Because of this reason, the cut of the diamond is extremely important. A diamond should be cut as close to the ideal cut as possible, as shown below. If the cut is too deep or shallow, the light will get lost. Whereas when cut right, the light will be reflected and distributed.
The Royal 201
For many years, the regular brilliant cut with 57 facets was considered as the most sparkling diamond. However, in 2007 Royal Coster Diamonds created the Royal 201; a patented diamond cut with no less than 201 facets! This diamond takes “shine bright like a diamond” to a whole other level. The base of the brilliant-cut diamond consists of the simple cut. The diamond is cut with seventeen facets. There are four cross corners, four bezels, four cross-angles, four pavilions, and the table.“You might think that the more facets a brilliant has, the more light reflects and the more the diamond sparkles. But it doesn’t work that way. Many people tried to make diamond cuts with hundreds of facets but when you put these next to the 201, you see there is more than the number of facets. You see that 201 is the perfect number. And it has been since 2007.” – Donny, one of the creators of the Royal 201