Ultimate Guide to Popular Diamond Cuts

Diamonds are a popular and precious commodity. Many people like to buy jewelry with diamonds in it. Engagment rings are one of the most popular jewelry items that often use a diamond. A lot of work goes into creating diamonds for people to purchase. Things like color, clarity, shape, size and cut are important when choosing a diamond. Depending on the cut of the diamond, many different looks and styles can be achieved.

Excel Diamonds - A site that covers the different shapes of each diamond cut.

Loose Diamonds Reviews - A great site that explains the parts of the diamond.

Diamond Size Chart - This site provides different diamond size charts.

Princess Cut

The Princess Cut is a unique cut diamond that is traditionally squared but may also come in rectangular form. A diamond with this cut has sharp edges and numerous sparkling facets. Even thought the Princess Cut is rectangular or squared in shape, it still reflects light brilliantly like round-cut diamonds do; in fact, it is often a popular choice for an engagement ring. It's available in different color grades. Colored diamonds will present all their beauties from the corners. When it comes to finding the right dimension, look for a length-to-width ratio between 1 and 1.05 for a squared-cut diamond and a length-to-width ratio greater than 1.10 for one in rectangular form.

Pricescope - This is a Consumer Advocate Site that contains a Princess Cut Chart.

Marquise Cut

The Marquise Cut is a slender cut diamond. It appears as a stretched out oval diamond and gives the appearance of being bigger (and having then an bigger value) than other diamond cuts. When placed on the finger, the length of the marquise makes it appear long and slender. The standard Marquise-cut diamond contains 58 facets (33 crown, 25 pavilion). As an option, the pavilion can be cut with 4, 6 or 8 pavilion main facets. The right dimension for the Marquise Cut is a length-to-width ratio between 1.75 and 2.25. Besides looking great when placed in rings, Marquise-cut diamonds make for lovely pendants and earrings too.

Diamond Source of Virginia, Inc. - Here's a vendor that provides a description of the Marquise Cut diamond.

Quality Diamonds - This site presents details of the look and qualities of the Marquise Cut diamond.

Diamond Size Chart - A Web site showing the diamond sizes for the Marquise Cut diamond.

Round Cut

The Round Cut is a very popular cut diamond and is said be the most brilliant of all the cuts. It has sold more than any other cut diamond. It consists of 58 facets: 33 on the top portion called the crown, and 25 facets on the bottom called the pavilion. It has a perfect balance of sparkle and brilliance that can reflect the maximum potential of light. Round Brilliant cut diamonds are quite expensive, but they make great engagement rings, in addition to a beautiful pair of stud earrings or pendants.

KHI, Inc. - Here's a site that illustrates the Round Cut diamond.

Gemological Institute of America Inc. (GIA) - This site provides a diamond anatomy of a Round Brilliant cut diamond.

Diamond Tutorial - A Web site that features the Round Brilliant Cut diamond.

Pear Cut

The Pear Cut appears "pear" in shape, hence the name. It's known to be a modification of the traditional and extremely popular round cut, but it has rounded sides and a V-shaped prong to hold and protect the pointed tip. Much of the carat weight is in the rounded end. The Pear-cut shaped diamond usually has 58 facets. They are popular to wear as pendants or teardrop earrings.

Buying a Loose Diamond - Explaining the shape and cut of a Pear Cut diamond.

Novori Jewelry Inc. - Information about Pear-cut engagement rings.

Oval Cut

The Oval Cut is elliptical in shape. It contains 56 facets. Oval-cut diamonds have characteristics similar to the Round Brilliant cut diamonds with beautiful brilliance and sparkle, but are narrower and longer in variation. An additional difference is the price: the Oval-cut costs much less (up to 20% less) than a Round-cut diamond. The Oval-cut is known to look its best when worn by women with small hands or short fingers. For the most traditional Oval-cut diamond, look for length-to-width ratio between 1.33 and 1.66.

Tiffany & Co. - A great site to find and see Oval Cut diamond engagement rings.

Delphi Diamonds - Explores diamond shapes and briefly covers the Oval Cut.

Heart Cut

The Heart Cut is shapped like a "heart." It's first shapped like a Pear-cut diamond, but it contains a distinctive cleft on top instead of the rounded edges. It takes a lot of skill and patience to reveal the heart-cut shape; to get it right, it must exhibit proper symmetry. The Heart-cut contains 57 or 58 facets. Unlike the other diamond shapes, when cut and beautifully polished, the heart-cut shape diamond is said to be the most romatic looking diamond cut. It's important to know if a more traditional heart-shaped diamond is what the buyer is after, look for length-to-width ratios between .90 and 1.10.

The Diamond Buying Guide - This site provides pointers in choosing the right Heart Cut diamond.

Ajediam - This diamond company site illustrates Heart diamond carat sizes pictures in millimeters.

Diamond Safe - This is a vendor who sells (by price and carat size) certified Heart Cut shape loose diamonds.

Emerald Cut

The Emerald Cut is rectangular or squared in shape, and contains only 49 to 50 facets. Even though they have fewer facets than other diamond cuts, they do however have larger facets, which can reflect the beauty of an emerald. What makes the Emerald-cut different from other diamond shapes is its pavilion, which creates a unique optical look. Another important feature of an Emerald-cut diamond is its "step cut," which resembles a staircase that helps to reveal its classic beauty and elegance not seen in other cuts. Also, many Emerald cut diamonds are sold because they are more economical than other diamond shapes. Moreover, the Emerald is recognized (by most) as the birthstone of May; for this reason, many more of them have been sold. The best dimension for the classic emerald-cut shape is a diamond that has a length-to-width ratio between 1.30 and 1.40.

Fay Cullen - A site that displays Emerald-cut rings and their prices.

Diamond Education - Here's a Web site that covers the Emerald Cut (as well as other diamond shapes).

Radiant Cut

The Radiant Cut is rectangular in shape with truncated corners. Squared Radiant cut diamonds are also available. A normal Radiant-cut will have 53 to 54 facets, but it could contain 70 facets (that will add more sparkle). It's the only diamond shape that has a complete brilliant facet pattern applied to both the crown and pavilion. The Radiant-cut is dazzling and beautiful; it shows the elegance of an Emerald-cut, and the sparkle of a Round-cut shaped diamond. Furthermore, the appearance is like no other cut diamond, as it resembles cracked ice. Colored Radiant-cut diamonds are especially popular because they show extraordinary beauty evenly throughout the stone; for this reason, they are expensive to purchase. When searching for the right dimension, look for the length-to-width ratio between 1 and 1.05 for a squared-cut diamond and a length-to-width ratio greater than 1.10 for one in rectangular form. Instead, for a Radiant-cut with 70 facets, look for a length-to-width ratio of 1 to 1.2 - 1.5.

Abazias - A site that gives a brief description of the Radiant Cut diamond.

Diamonds on Web - A great site that gives details of the Radiant-cut diamond.

As discussed, each of the eight diamond cuts have its own unique characteristics: the cut, shape, clarity, color, and dimension. When choosing a diamond ring, it's important to know the details of a well-cut diamond. Besides, the value of each diamond cut depends on its own characteristics as well as size, carat weight, color grade, cut grade, and the clarity grade of the diamond. As valuable it is its appearance: facets, sparkle, and brilliance. When considering the value of a diamond, and to ensure you get what you paid for, it's recommended not to buy any cut diamond without a Certificate or Grading Report containing the name of the laboratory as well as the number, which uniquely identifies a diamond.

Leo Schachter Diamonds - A helpful site that provides good information on what to look for before buying a diamond of any particular shape. 

Price of Diamonds - This site has a lot of information relevant about diamonds and their prices.

Diamond Helpers - Here's a site that provides insider secrets to shopping for diamonds.

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