Primer on Diamond Shapes

Are you thinking about creating a custom diamond ring? Do you want to create the most unique engagement ring perfectly tailored for your significant other? There are a number of steps in making that dream a reality and perhaps the biggest component that comes to mind is the diamond, the center gemstone. If you are thinking of designing a custom ring it is worth knowing what shapes of diamonds are available.

A Primer on Diamond Shapes

This basic primer is going to go over a number of the more popular styles of diamonds. The ‘shape’ of the diamond is similar to discussing the cut. The cut of a diamond we have gone over elsewhere but briefly cut is the way in which the raw stone was polished and shaped to provide the most brilliant diamond possible. At times, in the cutting process that means

• Round Brilliant
  • The most popular style of diamond. Featuring 58 facets and a rounded crown, all measured to reflect light in the most brilliant manner. It has become an industry standard in ideals. Chances are when you imagine a diamond, this is the style you are conjuring up in your mind.
• Princess
  • Ah, the Princess Cut. The second most popular diamond shape behind Round Brilliant. The face-up is a square or rectangular shape, thus giving it its other moniker ‘square modified brilliant.’ These tend to be slightly cheaper than round brilliants as they retain more of their rough diamond.
• Oval
  • This diamond’s face-up shape is – you guessed it, an elongated round. Cut that mixes the marquise (more on that later) and the round brilliant. These diamonds are often larger looking than other cuts in similar carat weight.
• Pear
  • The teardrop pear diamond is another combination between round brilliants and marquise. Originally created by Flemish diamond polisher Lodewyk van Berquem, the man who developed the concepts of symmetry and facets in diamond cuts that lead to the philosophy of diamond cutting we have now.
• Cushion
  • The cushion cut is a square diamond with rounded corners, resembling a pillow or cushion. It also once went by the name of an ‘Old Mine Cut.’ This is a classic cut of diamond, having been around for two centuries, during which is was the most popular shape of the time.

There are plenty other popular styles of diamond shapes, fancy cuts including heart, emerald, as well as baguette, all possessing  different factors that can make them the perfect stone for your ring. Baguette diamonds, being longer, can accentuate the fingers themselves, while the heart is perhaps the most overtly romantic gesture there is.

When it comes time to begin designing your custom jewelry, be sure to take into account what sort of diamond fits the piece best for your purposes and intentions. Contact us  at Stewart Kuper Jewelers and together we can make you the perfect piece of jewelry.