Radiant vs. Princess cut

[k-man]

Hi All,

I''m in the search for a "square" diamond and thought I had it narrowed down to a radiant. Then I went to a B&M store to see the difference b/w at Princess and Radiant (Radiants are much harder to find!) before I ordered online and I couldn''t get over the size difference! I had the jeweller show me a 1ct Radiant and a 1.03ct Princess and the Princess appeared almost 25% bigger (similar settings).
Is this normal? Or did the jeweler simply state the wrong size by mistake?

Thanks.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

It depends on the depth of the diamond. A deeper radiant cut will look smaller than a shallower princess cut, and vica-versa.

 

[NewYorker]

Not that you asked - but I'd pick the radiant over the princess - it's seen less often and IMO just a nicer cut.

 

[k-man]

Thanks for your reponses - I am finding it very difficult to find radiants to view in person, although they exist on the web. I've read radiants look nicer than princess cuts but I honestly can't get over the size difference I saw.

Will radiants be more expensive since they're harder to find?

 

[NewYorker]

I think they may be more expensive, but you can find quite a bunch at whiteflash.com and I'm sure you can just send them back if you don't like them. IMO, you can see just by the picture how different it is cut to the princess and all dimaonds are gorgeous so I would have no problem getting one I haven't seen if the price is right and there are no inclusions visible to the naked eye.

 

[Hest88]

I'm actually not a radiant fan. They "shimmer" more, but I find that the more circular pattern just looks too random to me! I know others are big fans, though.