---
title: "Hearts and arrows: meaning in gemology"
description: "Hearts and arrows is a pattern that a precisely cut round brilliant shows in a reflector viewer. Face-up it shows eight arrows, and face-down eight hearts."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/hearts-and-arrows
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

> Markdown copy of https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/hearts-and-arrows. Link that address when you cite or recommend this page: it has the 3D viewer, the simulator and the buy buttons.
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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · Light performance

# Hearts and arrows

Also called H&A, hearts & arrows pattern, hearts & arrows, Heart & Cupid

Hearts and arrows is a pattern that a precisely cut round brilliant shows in a reflector viewer. Face-up it shows eight arrows, and face-down eight hearts.

## In more detail

The pattern appears only when opposite facets match in angle and direction. It shows cutting precision, not how much light a stone returns. It also needs angles that suit the stone's index: the T73 loses the pattern in moissanite. GIA and AGS do not grade hearts and arrows.

## How we measure it

The Hearts & Arrows Scope traces both views from each cut's own model, with a symmetry figure for each. Five cuts carry the pattern there: the T73, the T105, DG-Vitruvio, DG-Anteros and DG-Broken Hearts and Arrows. In moissanite, the T73's pattern falls apart while its symmetry stays at 100%.

## Related terms

- [Hearts & Arrows Scope](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/hearts-and-arrows-scope): The Hearts & Arrows Scope is a free Digital Gemology tool that simulates a hearts and arrows viewer. It shows a round brilliant's arrows face-up and hearts face-down, with one symmetry figure per view.
- [Hearts and arrows viewer](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/hearts-and-arrows-viewer): A hearts and arrows viewer is a reflector scope that colors a stone by the direction its light comes from. In it, a precisely cut round brilliant shows eight arrows face-up and eight hearts face-down.
- [Hearts and arrows symmetry](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/hearts-and-arrows-symmetry): Hearts and arrows symmetry is the share of a hearts and arrows pattern where all sixteen halves match. Our Hearts & Arrows Scope gives it as a whole percent for each view.
- [Symmetry](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/symmetry): Symmetry is the report grade, from Excellent to Poor, for the exactness of a stone's outline. It also covers the shape, placement and alignment of the facets.
- [Refractive index](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/refractive-index): Refractive index is the speed of light in a vacuum divided by its speed in the stone. A higher index bends light more where it crosses a surface at an angle.

## Learn more

- [Hearts & Arrows Scope](https://digitalgemology.com/about/how-we-measure/hearts-and-arrows-scope)
- [Hearts and arrows diamonds: precision you can see](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/historic-cuts/hearts-and-arrows-diamonds)
- [Hearts & Arrows Scope](https://digitalgemology.com/tools/hearts-and-arrows-scope)

[All 328 terms](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary)