Fancy cuts look bigger ??

[furpy]

Hi there,

I have a bit of a stupid question here, but just want to know other''s opinions on this.

My brilliant cut e-ring is E colour, 0.61, VS1 - however has always looked smaller to me than other people''s fancy cut shapes of around 0.50, why is this !!!? I have seen pear/marquise/trilliant solitaires that are at least 0.10ct smaller than mine, but look bigger, is this because the weight is distributed out to the points for these fancy cuts and make them ''appear'' larger?

My husband has surprised me by wanting to buy me another diamond ring for the birth of our first child

, and we are looking for a larger stone than my original e-ring. This time round I am definitely looking to downgrade the clarity & colour slightly in trade for a bigger stone....do you think that Princess cuts are good for looking their actual size, or do those other fancy cuts still seem bigger for the same carot weight?

Thanks very much,
furpy

 

[Giangi]

Princess cuts can be tricky because most of them are really deep makes, so the face up appeareance is small for their weight. A fancy shape that is reported to look very big for its weight is pear. Of course, cut is very important in fancies too, even though it's much more difficult to judge. Some fancies look huge for their weight because they are very shallow (like 35-40% total depth)... This is the perfect recipe for a glassy, dull and lifeless stone. Try to avoid the extremes: in one case you will have a transparent stone with very little brilliance, and in the other you'll have a dark looking stone.
A good point that you brought up is to downgrade color and clarity... A VS 2 (as well as many SI 1's) is definitely a safe bet on a fancy shapes (except emerald cut), but you can really find SI 2's that are eye-clean, from the top at least, if you shop a bit harder. Another note is about color: fancy shapes tend to show color more easily that rounds... So you'd be safe with a H or better color, if you want to set the stone in a white metal ring.