AGS Labs to Release Emerald Cut Grade

Beginning February 1, the American Gem Society Laboratories will begin issuing the Diamond Quality Document for the new AGS Performance-Based Cut Grade system for several shapes of the emerald cut.  According to AGS, the industry’s first cut grade for the emerald cut.

The AGS Gemological Sciences Committee approved the AGS Performance Cut Grading System for three new shapes: square emerald cut, rectangular emerald cut and an octagon step cut.

“The emerald cut is very popular with consumers, and for the industry this will hopefully mean an increase in sales at the counter,” says Peter Yantzer, Executive Director of AGS Laboratories.

In 2005, AGS released their Performance-Based Cut Grading System for both the round brilliant and the princess.

The science supporting the Performance-Based Cut Grade System reflects AGS’s transition from a proportion-based to a performance-based cut grade system, where all facets of a diamond are measured in three dimensions rather than two dimensions. 

The Lab says it uses state-of-the-art ray tracing software to trace light traveling through a diamond.  The software demonstrates the quantity and quality of the light being returned to the viewer.  AGS Laboratories considers brightness, dispersion, leakage, contrast, and weight ratio, in addition to proportion, symmetry, and polish, when assigning a final cut grade.