Buyers Guide to Engagement Ring Styles & Diamond Cuts
Buying an engagement ring signifies a new and exciting chapter of your life with the one you love. It’s a purchase that you have to get just right to make your proposal one of the most special moments in your relationship. Choosing the perfect engagement ring is not only difficult, but extremely stressful if you don’t know what you’re doing. We understand this, and our goal is to educate and guide you through every step of the process. The cut of your diamond, which brings out the sparkle, makes up more than 25 percent of its value. Every diamond shape is a variation of the modern round brilliant, which can be cut to your standards. We’ll spend as long as it takes to find you the right diamonds for your custom engagement ring.
Diamonds can be round, square, oval, rectangular and many other shapes. Round diamonds are traditionally most popular, but other beautiful shapes such as princess, emerald, cushion, oval and radiant.
Choosing a Diamond Cut & Buying an Engagement Ring
Buying an engagement ring signifies a new and exciting chapter of your life with the one you love. It is a purchase that you have to get just right to make your proposal one of the most special moments in your relationship.
Choosing the perfect engagement ring is not only difficult but extremely stressful if you don’t know what you are looking for. We understand this, and our goal is to educate and guide you through every step of the process.
The cut of your diamond, which brings out the sparkle, makes up more than 25 percent of its value. Every diamond shape is a variation of the modern round brilliant, which can be cut to your standards. We’ll spend as long as it takes to find you the right diamonds for your custom engagement ring.
Diamonds can be round, square, oval, rectangular and many other shapes. Round diamonds are traditionally most popular, but there are other beautiful shapes such as princess, emerald, cushion, oval and radiant.
Types of Diamond Cuts
Round Diamonds
The round cut diamond is the most popular diamond shape. Approximately 75% of all diamonds sold are round cut. Due to the mechanics of the round diamonds’ shape, it is generally superior to fancy diamond shapes at the proper reflection of light, maximizing potential brightness. Because of its high demand, round diamonds typically cost more on a per carat basis.
Princess Cut Diamonds
The princess cut diamond is the most popular fancy cut, especially when it comes to engagement rings. Similar to round cut diamonds, princess cut diamonds are a good choice for their flexibility in working with almost any style of ring. Princess cut diamonds typically have a slightly lower price-per-carat than round cut diamonds.
Emerald Cut Diamonds
Emerald cut diamonds have a unique look that is created by the step cuts of its pavilion and its large, open table. Instead of the sparkle of a brilliant-cut, emerald cut diamonds produce a hall-of-mirrors effect because of the interplay of light and dark planes. Its long lines and dramatic flashes of light give the emerald cut an elegant appeal.
Pear Shaped Diamonds
The pear shaped diamond is a combination of a round and a marquise shape, with a tapered point on one end. The diamond is always worn with the narrow end pointing toward the hand of the wearer. The pear shaped diamond comes in a variety of slim to wide cuts, and has the added benefit of making the wearer’s fingers appear longer and slimmer.
Radiant Cut Diamonds
A Radiant Cut Diamond offers outstanding brilliance and durability. Its carefully beveled corners give radiant cuts substantial durability against chips and breakage. This makes them an excellent choice for those with an active lifestyle. The beveled corners of a radiant cut also makes it a good candidate to be paired alongside both square and rounded diamonds.
Marquise Cut Diamonds
Marquise diamonds are long and narrow, or as some would say “football shaped”, and make a unique and special diamond shape for engagement rings. Carat for carat, Marquise cut diamonds have one of the largest crown surface areas compared to other diamond shapes. This quality makes it a good choice when trying to maximize the perceived size of a diamond. Similar to pear shaped diamonds, their elongated shape can make the finger of the wearer appear longer and slimmer.
Cushion Cut Diamonds
The cushion cut diamond combines a square cut with rounded corners, creating a softer, “pillowy” aesthetic. Recently, cushion cuts have surged in popularity due to a few high profile celebrity rings and an overall trend toward vintage style engagement rings. Cushion cut diamonds have many facets in the pavilion, or base, making them one of the most brilliant cuts available. The facets of a cushion cut, coupled with the open square shape on the table, create tremendous amount of what is referred to as fire. Fire is the beautiful prismatic effect you see when a diamond catches light.
Heart Shaped Diamonds
The heart shaped diamond is a unique type of modified brilliant-cut. It’s an unmistakable symbol of love. Heart shaped diamonds can be fairly popular in rings, but are more widely used in solitaire pendants. When choosing a heart cut, symmetry is a very important characteristic. It’s critical that the two halves of the heart are identical. The cleft should be sharp and distinct, and the wings should have a very slightly rounded shape. The cleft is between the two lobes, and the wings make up the sides as they curve down to the point.
Oval Cut Diamonds
Oval diamonds are another modified brilliant-cut. Because the two shapes possess a similar fire and brilliance, the oval is an ideal choice for a customer who likes the look of a round diamond, but wants something more unique. Oval diamonds have the added advantage of an elongated shape, which can create the illusion of greater size. The slender shape can also make the finger of the wearer appear longer and slimmer, an effect often desired.
Asscher Cut Diamonds
The asscher cut diamond is similar to a square emerald cut, but typically has a smaller table, larger step facets, and a higher crown. Because of that, Asscher cuts produce more brilliance than an Emerald cut. When cut well they will appear to have concentric squares when looking straight through the table because of how the pavilion facets are positioned underneath. The Asscher cut has cropped corners, which combined with its square shape creates a somewhat octagonal shape. On a four prong setting the diamond will maintain its unique shape within a square silhouette.
Design the Perfect Engagement Ring with KT Diamond Jewelers
We will help you figure out all the details for what you want to create and can stay within any budget. Whether the ring in question is a classic diamond solitaire or something a bit less traditional, when you work with KT Diamond the end product will be a completely custom engagement ring that you will love.
Our master jewelers and custom design process are second to none. Contact us to start your journey today. Follow the link below to view the gallery of beautiful custom engagement rings we’ve crafted for our clients.
Our custom design process is second to none. Follow the link below to view the gallery of beautiful custom engagement rings we’ve crafted for our clients.
Engagement Ring Gallery
Important Terms
Brilliant:
A brilliant is a diamond or other gemstone cut in a particular form with numerous facets so as to have exceptional brilliance. The shape resembles that of a cone and provides maximized light return through the top of the diamond. Read More
Facets:
Facets make up the surface of the diamond or gemstone. When light hits / enters the facets it will bounce around, much like it would do if it hit a series of mirrors. Where the light bounces will be determined on how well the cutter of the diamond sculpted the facets.
Sparkle:
Sparkle (scintillation) describes the sparkles, or flashes of light, that are produced when a diamond is moved underneath a light source. The light that is not reflected back enters the diamond and bounces off the facets, toward the diamond’s center.
Fire:
Refers to the dispersion of light into different colors of light. Once light is bounced off the inside walls towards the center of the diamond, it bounces back up through the top of the diamond. A color spectrum is visible when light exits the top of the diamond. This is because the light is slightly bent by the diamond. Thus, the better the cut, the more fire will be visible.
Table:
The flat facet at the top of a diamond. It is one of the main attributes that determine a diamond’s appearance. The table refracts rays of light through the diamond so they can then be reflected by the facets.
Depth:
The depth of a diamond can also be called the height: it is the distance from the table to the pointed tip (cutlet) of the diamond.