Learn about Culet
A diamond's culet is the
point on the bottom of a diamond's pavilion. A diamond's culet may be
pointed or it may be blunted with a small facet. The culet facet can
vary in size. This culet's size determines the grade that the culet
is assigned. When searching for your diamond you should choose a diamond
within this range: pointed or no culet, very small, small or medium.
Diamonds that possess culet sizes in these ranges are considered Ideal
to Very Fine. Diamonds within these ranges do not have culets that are
visible to the naked eye when viewed from of the top of a diamond through
the table facet.
Diamonds
that have culet facets that are large to extremely large are less desirable
because the culet facet may be visible to the naked eye when viewed
through the table facet. Large culets are common in diamonds that were
cut in the early part of this century. They are often referred to as
Old European or Old Mine Cut Diamonds. Large culets may also indicate
the culet is chipped or broken off. Below is GIA's and other gemological
laboratories' list of abbreviations used on diamond certifications that
grade the condition of a diamond's culet.
N, NO, NON, - No Culet
P, PO, PN, PNT, - Pointed
VS, VSM, VRSM, - Very
Small
S, SM, SML, - Small
M, ME, MD, MM, - Medium
L, LA, LG, - Large
VL, VLG, VRLG, - Very
Large
EL, EX, EXLG, - Extremely
Large
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