Brian Gavin (born 14 November 1957) is a fifth-generation diamond cutter from South Africa. Referred to as "Brian the Cutter," Gavin is best known for establishing a quality benchmark and grading system for

hearts and arrows Hearts and Arrows (H&A) diamonds are precision-cut variations of the traditional 57 faceted round brilliant cut. They are cut to "ideal" proportions with good optical symmetry, polish and a specific faceting pattern. When all these factors are p ...

diamonds, a specialized precision-cut form of the round

brilliant Brilliant may refer to: Music * ''Brilliant'' (album), a 2012 album by Ultravox * Brilliant (band), a British pop/rock group active in the 1980s * "Brilliant" (song), a song by D'espairsRay *Brilliant Classics, Dutch classical music record label ...

diamond.

Hearts and arrows grading system

Renowned for strictness, Gavin's system for the grading of hearts and arrows diamonds was first presented at the 2004 International Diamond Cut Conference (IDCC) in Moscow Russia. Available free of charge, his system is in-use by credentialed diamond

appraiser An appraiser (from Latin ''appretiare'', "to value"), is a person that develops an opinion of the market value or other value of a product, most notably real estate. The current definition of "appraiser" according to the Uniform Standards of Pro ...

s and consumer-protection

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physici ...

Family history

Brian is the son of Ben Gavin (1929–2009), master diamond cutter, and Femma Gavin, a well known South African artist featured in the Smithsonian Libraries’ Collection (1935–2006). He is the grandson of Esther Alida (Stella) Aronson (1915–1980) and Barend Deutz (1911–1987) master diamond cutter from the well known Deutz family in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. In the late 1930s, Deutz was brought to South Africa to teach diamond cutting along with his brother-in-law, Solly Neuwit, at Majestic Diamond Cutting Works in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

. By the early 1950s, Majestic was made a

DeBeers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and ...

sightholder A sightholder is a company on the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales's (DBGSS) list of authorized bulk purchasers of rough diamonds. De Beers Group made this list, the second largest miner of diamonds. DBGSS was previously known as DTC (Diamond T ...

and continued to flourish into the 1980s.

Patents

With research starting in 2009, Gavin developed and patented a cushion cut diamond with hearts and arrows

References

Hearts and Arrows Grading

Hearts & Arrows Intro
from 2004 International Diamond Cut Conference (IDCC)
Hearts & Arrows Formation and Grading
from 2004 International Diamond Cut Conference (IDCC)

External links

"The Accidental E-Tailer"
from Houston Business Journal, 26 January 2007
Smithsonian Libraries’ Collections: Femma Gavin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavin, Brian Diamond cutting 1957 births Living people