If you are looking to purchase a diamond ring or stone, one of the many aesthetic factors that can make a diamond more brilliant and beautiful is polishing. Polishing is a natural way just like cutting or cleaving a diamond to make it more brilliant and beautiful. Polishing does not make the diamond more valuable, but rather more attractive to the buyer.
For many diamonds, when they come out of the mind, they must be cut and polished to bring out the best brilliance within them. Just like a marble sculpture starts with a slab of marble, so to does a diamond. Each diamond is cut and polished to certain types of cuts depending on its size and shape. While many diamonds fit perfectly for a Round Brilliant cut, some diamonds might excel as a Marquis or Princess Cut.
Polishing is just enhancing the stone and it can be slight or intensive depending on the characteristics of each stone. For instance, in the Round Brilliant Cut, the girdle, which is the extending edge of the diamond may either be faceted or polished. Both processes do not affect the value of the diamond; however the reason to polish or facet the girdle is that there may be a grainy or granular texture to the stone. As a side note, creating facets instead of polishing is usually more time consuming and thus may affect the stones price. However, once the diamond reaches the consumer, the polishing, cleaving and cutting has already been performed and it is of little consequence to the buyer.
