Jewels Of The Week: June 2022
June is flabbergastingly in the rear view, it’s hard to believe how quickly time is moving! PriceScopers continue to hit it out of the park when it comes to new…
Diamond Shapes – Basics
When gifting a diamond, it’s extremely important to knowing the wearer’s preferred diamond shape. The vast majority of diamonds are round but other options exist.
PriceScope Pointer: Top Most diamond grading laboratories, including GIA, issue NO CUT GRADE for shapes other than round.
Before going on: Check out the PriceScope Diamond Buying Guide
These pages may reference products from companies that help to support PriceScope.
Be advised: Most shapes are NOT GRADED FOR CUT. Our short list of vetted vendors – including JamesAllen.com, Whiteflash and Blue Nile – are experts at selecting fancy shapes with sparkle.
PriceScope Advice
Choosing a diamond shape involves personal decisions. Beyond any shape’s basic geometry there are proportional choices involving length, width and overall aesthetic. What pleases one person most may not be optimal for the next person and the next. The advice below, while popular, must be considered for what it is: guidelines many people follow, reflecting broad consensus. Your individual taste and perception may differ, and that’s just fine.Since most of the world’s diamonds have been cut as round brilliants we have compiled abundant information about this shape. The most important appears on our diamond cut page, which we highly recommend for any diamond shopper.
There are also several distinctly different subsets of Round Brilliant diamonds, each with their own specific visual properties. See three common round brilliant subsets here.
PriceScope Pointer: Take a cut quality shortcut. See our Descriptive Proportions Chart to know whether a round diamond shows more brightness, more fire, or a balance of both. Our longstanding Member Recommended Proportions are listed there too.
Diamond Shapes: Princess CutMost laboratories issue NO CUT GRADE for shapes other than round, but AGS offers full cut and performance grading for princess cuts.
A princess cut looks great in a variety of settings, but to ensure longevity, the corners of the diamond should be protected with prongs or a bezel setting.
Depending on how many chevrons a princess cut has on its pavilion, it can have between 24 and 40 facets. The more facets, the smaller the scintillation events generally appear. See our princess cut diamonds page to learn more.
Ideal Fancy Shapes! Every Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® princess has an Ideal cut grade from the American Gem Society (AGS). The JamesAllen.com True Hearts™ collection includes both princess and cushion cuts graded by AGS.
The 70-70 rule of cushion cuts advises staying with cushions which have a table % under 70% as well as a total depth % under 70%. This helps to ensure you’re not paying for a diamond with extra weight in the belly, and ensures a small enough table to foster dispersion.
Personal preference comes into play when considering this shape, because of the variety of appearances available. We recommend they be assessed on a case by case basis. While we give some broad outlines here, experts within the PriceScope community agree that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to cushion cut diamonds.
The step cutting style and large table on the emerald leave few places for inclusions to hide. Color saturation is also more noticeable in this shape so those seeking clean, colorless appearing diamonds will want to gravitate towards H-VS2 and higher.
Fortunately, emerald cuts are great at maximizing carat weight, giving a bigger face-up size than brilliants of equivalent carat weight.
The Asscher cut masks clarity better than the emerald cut but does not conceal color efficiently so for those seeking colorless appearance we still encourage H color and higher.
The primary appear of the Asscher is aesthetic. It does not appear as large for the weight as an emerald cut but offers more fire and sparkle than similar emerald cuts due to the smaller table and higher crown.
Expert Assistance: Our short list of vetted vendors, like Blue Nile have experienced gemologists on staff to help you find the perfect fancy fit. Email, text or call one of them with questions.
The oval cut sometimes display a bow-tie effect. Viewing a diamond spin-video or images under a variety of lights will help you to identify this. A large bow tie is essentially a permanent shadow across the diamond. Proper cutting can minimize the bow-tie effect.
Ovals cost less than equivalent round brilliants while remaining bright and lively.
The beauty of a pear cut hinges on symmetry. This symmetry ensures an even sparkle across the diamond. You can review a variety of ratios to establish your preference. While the symmetry is essential a slim, long pear cut can be just as beautiful as a shorter, wider shape.
Like the oval, pear cuts sometimes display the bow-tie effect. Viewing a diamond spin-video or images under a variety of lights will help you to identify this. A large bow tie is essentially a permanent shadow across the diamond. Proper cutting can minimize the bow-tie effect.
Like the oval and pear, marquise cuts sometimes display the bow-tie effect. Viewing a diamond spin-video or images under a variety of lights will help you to identify this. A large bow tie is essentially a permanent shadow across the diamond. Proper cutting can minimize the bow-tie effect.
Also, like the pear-shape, the marquise depends on symmetry to ensure even sparkle across the diamond.
When being set, a pair of prongs should support the pointed ends to prevent chipping. Thanks to its elongated shape the marquise can appear larger than other diamonds of the same carat weight.
The facet patterning of a radiant cut is adept at concealing inclusions allowing you to maximize your money by buying a lower clarity grade if you wish. The cut corners of radiant cuts make them a great choice for wearers with an active lifestyle.
A well-cut Heart Shaped Diamond should be symmetrical, so it appears balanced and full. A defined cleft and distinct, pointed lobe will give a cleaner silhouette.
The heart shape is most appealing and effective in higher carat weights.
A trillion shaped diamond is often cut shallow. The perfect proportions will yield a good face-up size but a trillion that has been cut too shallow will lack brilliance.
The corners should be protected by the setting to avoid chipping.
The step cutting style and large table on baguette diamonds leave few places for inclusions to hide. Color saturation is also more noticeable in a baguette diamond ring so those seeking clean, colorless appearing diamonds will want H color or higher.
Fortunately, well cut baguette diamonds are great at maximizing carat weight.
Get fast answers to any question: Ask our community of unbiased independent helpers.
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People also ask
The round brilliant diamond is the best shape for returning light to the viewer’s eye. It’s also the most economical shape for the polishing of rough diamonds. For this reason the vast majority of diamonds sold are round. If you want a fast solution for finding a great round diamond value, read our PriceScope Diamond Buying Guide.
Natural diamonds have all historically maintained their value, but the round shape is typically the most liquid. Check out our Diamond Price Guide to see how different factors impact a 1 carat diamond’s price. We have also included a diamond price calculator for you to see today’s prices in real-time, based on more than 500,000 diamond listed in our search engine.
We always suggest prioritizing cut quality to maximize a diamond’s beautiful optical properties, including edge to edge brilliance which makes it appear larger in low lighting. We encourage you to learn more about this by reading about Diamond Cut.
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