Which shapes look the biggest?

[Yoga]

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[Yoga]

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[Lugus]

Nope, not an offensive question. Marquis definately look the biggest to me. I would guess that a pear would look slightly smaller than a marquis, but still larger than a round. Now here's the trick, a round diamond gives off the most fire and brilliance, which can make a smaller stone look larger.

 

[Yoga]

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[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

https://www.pricescope.com/tutor_carat.asp
The stone on the right looks much bigger than the identical diameter diamond on the left.

Size is very much a perception issue.
The biggest APPARENT look comes from a well cut round.

 

[Girls-best-friend]

I saw a 2 carat pear once and it was excellently cut and clear in color. I thought it was a 3 carat. It looked very large. I think the pear and the marquise look bigger when they are cut really well.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Hey AGBF, that is an oxymoron

 

[Yoga]

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[Hest88]

A fancy shape is never going to have the same light return as a comparable RB. The symmetry of a RB just makes the performance unbeatable. However, people choose fancy shapes because they like the shape, not for the light return. I, for instance, doubt I'll ever get a RB, just because I prefer the look of other shapes.

I find that pears and marquises look bigger to me, mainly because they're stretched out I guess.

 

[Yoga]

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[Giangi]

Trilliants look very big for the weight... To me pears and marquises look bigger than a same size round too...

 

[Rank Amateur]

Isn't the size-to-weight ratio of baguettes the thing that makes them so pricey? They might "look" the largest given their carat weight.

Of course you'll be searching long and hard for a 1ct baguette to mount in an engagement ring!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Just re read my post - I should have put a

there - It was meant to be freindly to AGBF, not an attack

AGBF

Trilliants are indeed the largest spread because they are ususally cut from 'flats' which are triangular shaped 'maccles'.
They can be as shallow as 30% and as a result they return very little light, especially when they are dirty.

So just bear in mind that spread without light return will not make a diamond look bigger.

 

[niceice]

Robin wears a 5.75 carat pear shape on her index finger because it covers the space well... It's not as brilliant as a well cut round, but we've yet to see any fancy shape that is... The marquise shape tends to look large as well, but the appearance is largely due to the length, the diamonds look thin in comparison to other shapes... We think that a well cut round is preferable to all shapes in terms of visual performance, but that is only part of the consideration in selecting a diamond, what shape do you want to see on your hand? It seems like you're partial to pear shapes and thus that is what you should select... Look for one that has a nice length to width ratio (somewhere between 1.50 - 1.75) and a minimal bowtie effect.

In case you don't know, the "length to width ratio" is the relationship between the length and the width of the diamond, the proportion of shape... It is determined by dividing the length by the width and comparing it to 1.00

A length to width ratio of 1.00:1.00 would be perfectly round or square... A "perfect" tear drop shape pear would be 1.50:1.00 and if you like the drop to be a little longer look for something closer to the 1.75:1.00 ratio.

The "bowtie" is exactly what it sounds like... There is a bowtie effect that is visible in marquise, oval, and pear shape diamonds that can appear dark or be barely visible depending on the relationship between the crown and pavilion angles... Simply put, the effect is caused by the short facets which extend out to the sides along the bottom of the stone coming together in the center with the longer facets...

 

[noles9498]

My non-expert two cents - My first diamond was a 1/2 carat pear and I've often gotten comments about it looking a lot larger than that.

 

[pricescope]

Garry, Girls-best-friend and AGBF are different members

 

[Mara]

My girlfriend has a marquis and it looks monstrous. It is most likely around 1.25c or so...but its huge. She is a tall, big girl and has large hands so it looks great on her.

I love rounds for their excellent ability to reflect the light, and while it is true that you will not find a fancy cut with as excellent light return...if you are willing to look hard and long, you may find pears or marquis shaped stones that offer excellent light return for a fancy. Someone was on here a few weeks ago with an idealscope image of a pear that was very beautiful, with what seemed like very minimal light loss. Rhino said it was very rare to find a stone like that. Intriguing.

Even though I have a round e-ring...I would love to get a pear loose stone, and have it set as teardrop pendant. I have been looking around and it seems that a .70c well cut pear is around the same diameter if not slightly more than my round 1.25c e-ring. Interesting! Cheaper too.

From what I have seen, you can save some $$ by buying a fancy.

If you are serious about buying a fancy, buy an IdealScope at www.ideal-scope.com for $25. It will help you evaluate loose stones for light leakage and return so that your pear or marquis or whatever looks as great as possible for your $$. Plus it's just a fun tool. You can use it for rounds too, but with the fancy shapes where it is harder to gauge an excellent cut due to the lack of accepted standards for fancies...the IS will help you in a simple way. Put the stone under the scope. Dark reds and reds are good....whites and pale pinks are bad.

Good luck!!

 

[Yoga]

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[Mara]

Okay so AGAIN my brain fails me...the thread was actually discussing a princess cut, not a pear...but it is still pretty valuable info as it shows what a leaky princess looks like and then an IS image of a pretty good princess.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/9-listings-for-same-exact-diamond-i-want-on-pricescope-search.4820/}

That's all one link..I'm horrible at this pasting stuff.

Look for threads written by Rook lately as he purchased a pear from Rhino at GOG and was pretty happy with the light return of the stone he purchased. Rhino at GOG also has some pix of IS images and Bscope readings on pears on his website, check them out--they are in the 'fancy' for sale section. Compare them against some of his round cut H&A stones...you will see why people say that well cut round's return the most light.

Good luck!