Throughout the engagement period, the focus often is on the dress, the venue, the photographer and other elements of the Big Day. However, the first item everyone will be awaiting and craving to hear about is “the ring.” When the planning begins, many forget about the first piece of the puzzle, the engagement ring. Carat weight, color, clarity and cut are those exciting yet daunting aspects of your new ring. Before you and your future fiancé pick the other “perfect one,” know exactly what you should be buying and how to tell the difference. For the next month, we will break down the 4 C’s of the diamond world: clarity, cut, color, and carat weight.
This week, we’ll look at the cut and shape.
Cut and Shape
The cut of a diamond is how well proportioned a stone is, which affects how the facets interact with the light. A facet is a flat surface on a jewel. Shape is the actual form or outline of the diamond, for example round, Princess or Emerald cut. To simplify, the cut is a measure of the symmetry and proportion of the diamond and its facets and the shape refers to silhouette of the outline.
There are eight popular shapes of diamonds most common for engagement rings.
Marquise is an oval shaped cut with points and each end.
Cushion has rounded edges and takes on a cross between a rectangle and oval shape.
An Emerald cut is a rectangular diamond, usually longer than a cushion shape, with cropped corners and long, stair-like facets.
Asscher is similar to an Emerald shape, but more square and octagon-like.
The Princess shape is a square stone.
Round is the most popular cut and shape and often considered a classic cut. The round diamond has 58 facets giving it the most sparkle of them all.
The Heart-shaped diamond is exactly what you may think and is in the shape of a heart.
The same can be said for a Pear shaped diamond, which is in the shape of the pear fruit.
Next week, we’ll cover the next “C”: Color.