Three Excellents on a Diamond Report: What Are You Buying?

You find a round diamond described as “Triple Excellent” and feel that the difficult part must be over. Then another stone has the same description, a different price and a slightly different look. How can both be excellent?

The answer is that Triple Excellent describes three results: Excellent cut, Excellent polish and Excellent symmetry. It is useful information about the diamond’s workmanship, but those results do not make two stones identical or settle which one you will prefer.

The examples here concern natural round brilliant diamonds that receive a GIA cut grade. Other shapes, laboratories and lab-grown diamonds may use different reporting systems, so check which report you are reading.

Start with the three separate grades

The Gemological Institute of America explains that Triple X, another name for Triple Excellent, is a trade expression. GIA records the individual grades rather than awarding a separate Triple Excellent title.

Cut considers how the diamond has been fashioned, including its appearance from above, proportions, durability and workmanship. It brings several characteristics together, including how the stone returns light.

Polish concerns the condition of the facet surfaces. A facet is one of the small flat faces cut into the diamond. Graders assess surface features under magnification.

Symmetry concerns the precision of the diamond’s shape and the arrangement of its facets. It looks at how neatly those parts align and correspond.

Polish and symmetry are graded separately, but GIA also considers them when determining the overall cut grade. The three results describe related aspects of the diamond’s workmanship.

A simple solitaire keeps attention on the centre stone. Lily Arkwright’s solitaire collection includes round diamond solitaire designs such as Grace, offered with a natural diamond in an 18ct white-gold four-claw setting. Its design name does not establish a Triple Excellent specification; ask which laboratory report applies to the diamond offered.

An Excellent cut does not require three Excellents

This is an easy detail to miss. Under GIA’s system, a round brilliant can receive an Excellent overall cut grade with Very Good polish, Very Good symmetry, or both. Those finish grades do not automatically reduce its overall cut grade to Very Good.

Imagine two shortlisted diamonds. The first has Excellent cut, polish and symmetry. The second has Excellent cut and symmetry, with Very Good polish. Only the first fits the trade description Triple Excellent, yet both have an Excellent overall cut grade.

GIA’s guidance on finish explains that differences between Excellent and Very Good polish or symmetry may be difficult to distinguish without magnification. That does not make the recorded grades unimportant. It gives you a more useful question to ask: what visible difference, if any, can the jeweller show you between these particular stones?

Matching grades can leave room for different looks

An Excellent grade covers more than one combination of proportions. Two diamonds can therefore share that grade while producing different patterns of reflections. GIA’s explanation of cut grading notes that individual face-up patterns can differ even among Excellent-cut diamonds.

GIA’s report guide shows where to find measurements, proportions, clarity characteristics and fluorescence, the response to ultraviolet light. Compare these details too, and ask the jeweller which differences help explain what you see. A single proportion figure will not settle the choice.

Try to describe what attracts you. Perhaps one has a clearer-looking pattern across its centre, or you prefer how its flashes change as it moves. That observation is more useful than deciding that every visible difference must mean one report is wrong.

Keep the comparison fair. Ask to view both diamonds clean, under the same light and at a similar distance. If one is loose and the other is mounted in a sparkling halo, acknowledge that you are also seeing the effect of the setting.

Ask what explains the price difference

Triple Excellent does not describe the diamond’s carat weight, colour or clarity. A price comparison becomes confusing if those details change at the same time as the finish grades.

It is also not a rarity grade. GIA explains that advances in diamond cutting have made Triple Excellent results increasingly common. The description alone does not establish that a stone is an unusual find.

For example, if the Triple Excellent stone is also heavier and has a higher colour grade, the extra cost cannot simply be attributed to the third Excellent. Ask for the specifications beside the prices, with the same metal and setting if you are comparing complete rings.

There is no fixed saving to promise by accepting Very Good polish or symmetry. The actual offers determine the difference. Equally, choosing three Excellent grades can be a reasonable preference even where you struggle to see a change. If two stones look similarly appealing, ask what the extra Excellent adds to the offer after accounting for the other specifications. Then decide whether the quoted difference justifies that preference.

Let the diamond have the final word

Ask the jeweller to show you where the reported differences appear in the actual stones, if they are visible at all. Compare the stones together under the same light and let them move; GIA’s round-diamond guide explains how movement reveals changing flashes and patterns.

You should finish with a clear distinction between the results on the report and your response to the diamond. Triple Excellent can be a good reason to add a stone to the shortlist. The next step is finding out whether it is the one you keep wanting to look at.