The ideal proportions, precise symmetry and perfect polish of a Super Ideal cut diamond create light reflections which are perfectly balanced, evenly distributed and even of the highest intensity, producing a diamond that not only looks bigger and brighter but, at the same time, displays the highly distinctive, symmetrical pattern known as Hearts & Arrows.

In 1984 a unique optical symmetry viewer known as the Firescope was invented in Japan for the exclusive purpose of visually demonstrating the quality of the cut of a round brilliant cut diamond.

The instrument proved to be so effective that, in 1985, a revolutionary cutting system was developed, based on reflective imaging technology, and diamond cutting took its next evolutionary step with the creation of the Super Ideal cut, which became the world standard of perfection for the round brilliant cut diamond.

Super Ideal cuts soon became popularly known as Hearts & Arrows diamonds and the Hearts & Arrows revolution was born.

Hearts & Arrows are highly symmetrical, reflected light patterns which visually demonstrate the optical symmetry of a Super Ideal cut diamond.  The name refers to the two separate light patterns seen when a Super Ideal cut diamond is viewed, first through the pavilion (face-down) and secondly through the table (face-up) using a special symmetry or Hearts & Arrows viewer.

However, the presence of the Hearts & Arrows pattern does not guarantee that a diamond will be the most brilliant.  In fact, not all Ideal round brilliant cut diamonds even have this pattern.  All major diamond grading laboratories agree that there is no such thing as a set of proportions that is the “best”, so whilst the Hearts & Arrows pattern is an indication of a high quality diamond, it would be a mistake to limit your search to only this type of diamond.