Radiant Cuts: Any Caveats about Color & Clarity?

[Defender]

I have been bothering all of you diamond experts about Emeralds, but I have now been a bit intrigued by the look of a Radiant Cut (in a rectangular shape) as an option. I know that the Radiant can be similar in shape to an Emerald, but I can see that the look is alltogether more flashy and sparkly.

So, I would like to get some more feedback about Radiants before getting too serious.

I am assuming that Radiants may be a bit more forgiving in color and clarity than an Emerald due to the nature of the cut and facets. Am I correct?

Is it easier to find an eye clean SI1 with a Radiant than it is with an Emerald?

Will a Radiant mask lower color grades better than an Emerald as well?

 

[coda72]

In my personal experience with radiants, I don''t think they are more forgiving in color than emerald cuts. I can see color in a well-cut radiant from H and lower. If I were buying a radiant, I would definitely stick with G and higher. Mine is an F, and I can see no color in it. People may have different opinions on color, but I know what I can see. The best thing to do is go to a jewelry store that sells the Original Radiant cut, so you can see what well-cut radiants look like and ask them to see H and lower ones if they have them.

As far as clarity, I do think they are more forgiving than emerald cuts. I''ve seen a couple of SI2''s where I could barely see the inclusions under the loupe. I have a VS2, and I can''t even find the inclusions with the loupe! Next time I would definitely go lower on the clarity.

 

[eks6426]

I also have a rectangular radiant and I agree that you can still see color in them. Mine is an F and I could easily tell Gs from Fs when I was looking.

I could also spot inclusion in Si stones and even some VS2 stones with no problem. But I really had to look for them. For the most part the inclusions got lost in all the sparkle.

You definitely should check out the Original Radiant Cut diamonds but remember that the numbers don''t tell the whole picture. You can have 2 radiants with similar numbers that look completely different because there can be a lot of varation in the faceting.

Good luck!

 

[valeria101]

It would be great to get and see some near colorless fancy cuts - step, radiant and what not. I don''t think they show color more. The stronger contrast of step cuts should do quite the opposite.

If you read too many enthusiastic reviews about rounds, you may end up believing these is some supreme blessing about them - that any tinted and included bit of diamond starts looking colorless and perfectly clean as soon as it becomes a round brilliant and no other shape would do. Yeah, right...

Another myth... that since many fancy color (yellow) diamonds are cut in the radiant shape because it enhances color, that means radiants also look tinted in the near-colorless range. .. Well, not really, the shape allows more room for maneuver than others and the proportions change drastically between fancy color diamonds and colorless ones.

And so on...

All I know precisely about the radiant cut is that it is allot more complicated than rounds... or modified brilliants. Two radiants may look extremely different due to changes in proportions alone. And what not. You may want to look around a bit.

There is no ''Ideal Cut'' label for these stones, but there is an ''Original Radiant'' and the website is quite interesting. See www.radiantcut.com

There is one online distributor of these stones with a few pictured online www.diamondsbylauren.com

A larger list of radiants with pictures online can be found at www.stuller.com and for yellows try www.scheiner.com and www.icestore.com Although these images are not the kind to give a measure of brilliance and what not, I doubt any store will line up a couple dozen radiants of all shapes and sizes for you to discover what different proportions look like. Specifics of size and color get lost in the pictures - so each is an example of ''the shape'' alone. At least this is how I look at them.


There are a few words about them at AGA and www.ideal-scope.com too.


I am not an expert... this is about all can think of, off the bat about looking for radiant cuts online. Hope some helps

 

[belle]

the extra faceting of the radiant can sometimes help detract your eye from perceiving more in the way of color and clarity, but just like any other shape each depends on the individual cut. some radiants are cut better than others and you would need to evaluate each on it''s own. to say that all radiants hide more color or inclusions than any other cut would be unfair. it depends on the stone.

best of luck!