A BrayScore summarizes pertinent data regarding the cut of a diamond into one number. This data is culled from measurements taken by a Sarin machine. The exact number is calculated by patented mathematical formulas that evaluate multiple measurements as taken by the gemological laboratory. The measurements that are taken into consideration reflect actual work performed by the cutter and are not extrapolations of measurements like depth/spread percentage and crown/pavilion percentages. A BrayScore is an evaluation of workmanship and not of the light performance of the diamond which can be affected by other factors other than cut. Light performance in a diamond is fleeting. Rock the stone in a tweezers or on your finger and it changes. Different lighting situations change the brilliance. A dark room robs from the diamond its brilliance. A finger print on the diamond changes its brilliance. A diamond in a parcel paper has no brilliance. A perfectly cut black or opaque color diamond has no brilliance. But, in all these instances, the cut of the diamond remains the same. The workmanship the cutter puts into the diamond is as durable as the diamond itself and like diamonds, no two diamonds are cut exactly the same.

How is the BrayScore calculated?

A BrayScore summarizes inaccuracies of the cutting process into one single number. A diamond with no cutting errors will have a score of 1000. By taking measurements of individual facets rather than averages, BrayScores are so accurate that they can tell differences between diamonds that show no visible difference. These measurements are produced by the Sarin machine and analyzed by the W.R.Bray Diamond Cut Scoring Process, Patent No. US 7136154B2.

Let’s look at golf as an example of how a facet on a diamond is scored using the BrayScore method. If a golfer is to sink a long putt, what two things have to be exactly right about the rolling ball for it to fall into the hole? The answer is speed and straightness right? Well, if you would put a grid of lines over the hole both perpendicular and horizontal and assigned point deductions to each perpendicular line representing straightness and the same for the horizontal lines representing speed, then if a ball failed to go in the hole, one could easily “score” the putt. All you would need to do is find the point on the graph and by add up the deductions for straightness, add to that the deductions for speed and subtracting from a perfect score. This is similar to how a BrayScore is achieved.

How is BrayScore used?

Your BrayScore can be used to your advantage regardless of your position in the market place. Manufacturers can use the cut score to raise the value of bottom end inventory that doesn’t normally get submitted for the gemological report process. Small independent cutters can use BrayScore as the basis for cutting fees. Dealers can use BrayScore as a buying tool and as a selling quantifier to reduce memo returns by accurately relaying the quality of make on the diamond. Retailers will find BrayScores to be the most effective way of answering questions about cut by the retail customer. The retail customer will finally have quick and easy method by which to understand which diamond is cut better.