Reviews

“Soccer had Pelé. Hockey has Gretzky. Basketball has Michael Jordan.

Diamond buyers have Garry Holloway.

Proclaimed the “Cut Nut” by industry megastar Martin Rapaport, Garry Holloway’s Ideal-Scope is his overhead bicycle kick; the millions of consumers he helps are his ongoing hat-tricks, and his patented Holloway Cut Adviser is a towering slam-dunk, grading over 10 million diamonds worth more than $50 billion dollars and counting.Most relevant to you, dear reader, is this man’s

proactive, divergent allegiance to consumer buyers. In an industry rife with scams and shenanigans, he aggressively champions consumer protection. Garry has shared his expertise on the world’s most trafficked consumer advice forums since the dawn of the internet and has spent over four decades pushing for improvement and best practices from his fellow industry professionals. Cut Nut is a profound do-gooder, a Super-Samaritan, an active “starfish flinger” (search that) on a planetary scale.

One of those starfish, a young music teacher in Texas, was so impressed with Cut Nut’s online advice that he requested a dialogue. Garry didn’t hesitate. He answered his phone a half-world away and taught that kid more in 15 minutes than he’d learned in 15 weeks of diamond shopping. The year was 1999 and the kid was me. The power of our meeting influenced my decision to pursue a career in diamonds. Two decades later, I am the Senior Director of Education for the world’s largest gemological institute.

In that capacity, gentle reader, let me tell you something. As a diamond shopper, standing in your shoes, Garry’s advice was indispensable. Today, as a 20-year industry veteran specializing in training gemologists and jewelers, the information on these pages should be required reading for diamond professionals. Most jewelers have a lot to say about color and clarity but never talk about what the Cut Nut talks about. It’s not an exaggeration to say those who finish this book will know more about diamond cut quality than most jewelry salespeople.

“Cut is King!”
That saying is 100% true. Not color. Not clarity. Cut quality is the roaring engine that drives a diamond’s brightness, fire, contrast, and sparkle. And you, brilliant reader, have found the alpha guru on the topic. Prepare for knowledge from a peerless diamantaire, inventor, and teacher. Prepare for variety from an adept foodie, sommelier, cyclist, and skier. Prepare for personality from a spirited Aussie, a clever wit, and a boon companion.

Garry Holloway’s career has been a cut-quality crusade, championing improvement in all industry sectors for more than 40 years. From rough crystal cutting to laboratory grading to the way diamonds are sold, his influence has positively moved the cut-quality needle. Ultimately, Garry has done more than anyone to advance and improve how the world’s diamonds sparkle since Marcel Tolkowksy, 100 years ago.

“Cut is King!”
And Garry Holloway is the King of Cut.”

John Pollard,
Senior Director of Education International, Gemological Institute