You've spent years and years dreaming about the ring and now the time has come! But along with the excitement, perhaps you have some butterflies on deciding a ring.. one ring... the ring?
We are here to help!!
In this blog, we're going to talk about the SHAPES of a diamond. A shape can make a big difference in the overall look, style, and personality of your ring. The shape you choose is a reflection of your personal taste. Let's learn some more!
Traditional Shapes
The most traditional and classic diamond shapes are round, oval, pear, marquise and emerald. Each of these shapes are most common and you probably know and have seen all of these shapes. No diamond is ever the same as the other, they all differ in their ratios of width to length, their color, clarity and cut and even their own unique faceting pattern, every natural diamond beholds an extraordinary presence of their own!
These traditional shapes are also some of our most popular shapes here at Melissa Tyson Designs. We know lots about each of these shape and we love creating rings with them.
Pear
The pear cut is a blend between a marquise and an oval. Her teardrop diamond offers an extra flare with one rounded edge and one pointed edge. The pear cut is an elongated shape that visually makes the diamond look larger on your finger. When looking at pear diamonds keep a look out for the “bow-tie effect." Due to how pear shaped diamonds are cut, there will always be a darker reflection area near the center of the diamond that has the same shape as a bow-tie. All pear shaped diamonds will have a bow-tie, some just diamonds will show it more strongly. It is a beautiful romantic a a bit dramatic shape being perfect for the boho bride, or the lady who's style is very carefree and adventurous.
Marquise
A marquise shape was all the rage in the 80's, but as all styles come full circle, so has the marquise, made a huge return onto the diamond stage. Her fun shape offers a unique yet timeless look. She has two crisp pointed edges and her length, which emphasizes her surface area, is typically nearly twice as long as her width. Marquise diamonds are brilliant cut, they are fantastic at hiding their imperfections just like round diamonds. Also since they They are perfect for the off the beaten path style, unique, with a dramatic flare. Our most popular way to set a marquise is east west to really spice it up!
Emerald
Emerald cuts are a rectangle with unique step-cut faceting that "steps" away from the table (center) of the diamond. This step-cut faceting produces a mirroring affect, emphasizing the clarity of the diamond and contributes to an elegant physique. The Emerald cut diamond needs to have a very high clarity and color as they show all their imperfections quite easily due to the large elongated facets. Emerald cut diamonds are often favored by celebrities, who love a clean modern style and want to make a statement
Princess
The princess cut makes for a geometric classic with shimmering brilliance. She has sharp corners from her a square face, but her cut underneath is cone shaped, similar to a round cut. (And extra bonus: we love the name princess!) They like a round are brilliant cut adding to the sparkle of the diamond, and because they are not as high in popularity, they can be less expensive per carat. They are great for a bold modern style aesthetic. One of our favorite way to set a princess cut is in a modern bezel in a diamond orientation like our Diamond Diamond Ring
Read on to find out more about round and oval shapes! (Above is a photo of our Treasure 2 ring, a 2ct round brilliant cut diamond.)
Unique Shapes
Let's talk about some of the more unique diamond shapes. These are: cushion, radiant, hexagon, ascher, heart, and trillion. Beyond this list, there are even shapes too many to name we just call them fancy in the custom diamond world. (Permission to dream big granted!) Fancy shape diamonds offer you something different and, depending on your style, can emphasize your personality with their unique characteristics.
Cushion
One fancy shape that is amongst one of our most popular is cushion cut. A cushion cut has rounded edges, making her have a soft, pillow like look. Typically, she is a square cut or the even more popular choice is the Elongated Cushion Cut a long rectangular shape with the soft corner and pillowy edges. Due to the larger facets on a cushion cut it creates a vintage flair, with remarkable beauty to her. Not quite as sparkly as a round but dreamy and alluring in it's unique appearance. The cushion cuts do tend to be a deeper cut carrying more of it's carat weight in the bottom of the diamond, we recommend going up in size to get the visual impact you want from your cushion cut diamond. Cushion cut diamonds are extremely popular maybe even our most requested they are perfect for the romantic type that love a vintage vibe.
Hexagon
The newest kid on the block is the hexagon diamond. One of a kind in every way! It is named for its shape being a six sided diamond. Some are equal six sides, and the more popular of the hexagons is the elongated hexagon having two longer sides stretching the hexagon out into a modern marvel of a shape! Hexagons typically come in step cut (the long block faceting), brilliant cut, or rose cut. Plan ahead if you are wanting to find one of these unicorn diamonds, there are very few on the market and it can take weeks or months to source the perfect hexagon diamond for you! It is the perfect shape for the lover of all things modern and geometric and as uniques as they come.
Which Shapes Face Up the Largest?
Did you know that some shapes can look larger on your hand? It's true! Some diamond shapes have more length on your hand and so the carat weight is used for more coverage and visual appeal. We call the diamonds that we like to source "spready," meaning that there is more diamond visible on the surface area than underneath.
The shapes that will look the largest on your hand are marquises, ovals, pears and emerald cuts.
Which Shapes Face Up the Smallest?
The shapes that will face up the smallest are: cushion, asscher, trillion, and heart. These stones have a super deep cut and so, instead of visually being spread out on your hand, their diamond carat has less length and more depth. When selecting a smaller face up diamond, you’ll need to get a bigger carat size to get the same visual impact as a diamond that faces up larger.
The Most Popular Shape: Round Brilliant Cut
Round brilliant cuts are the most popular shape. A generous amount of light reflects within the diamond due to a round's symmetrical, finely cut shape which enhances the diamond's brilliance and sparkle.
As the most popular shape, they are also one of the most expensive. Their high demand increases their cost as compared to other shapes of equal grading and sizing. Additionally, their cost is influenced by how much of the rough diamond is lost during the process of shaping. The diamond cutter is not able to save the edges when cutting a symmetrical round shape, leaving a large amount of diamond remaining and unusable.
However, there is some good news if you are considering a budget when selecting a round brilliant cut. A round brilliant cut diamond that has a Triple Ex grading in cut hides the diamond's color and clarity very well. This allows you to go as far as two grades lower in color or clarity while still keeping a beautiful, brilliant diamond. Selecting a diamond with a lower color or clarity grade will reduce the diamonds price, but as a round diamond is renown and timeless, you will still be paying for a higher price diamond.
(For more info on what cut and a Triple Ex grading is, check out our blog on cut!)
One of Our Top Requested Shape Is...
Ovals! Ovals are a classic and timeless shape. As mentioned above, they also face up large so they elongate your finger, making the oval diamond look bigger and your finger look slender.
An oval can be more of a chubby oval with less length and more diamond in the center or they can be extremely elongated oval with more length and the diamond is spread out. In the diamond world, a very elongated oval is called a "moval" which is a cross between a marquise and an oval. In the end, it's your preference as to what kind of oval you dream of wearing!
How Do YOU Decide?
With knowing all of this information, and knowing that shapes get to reflect your personal style, permission to dream about what shape mirrors you and the love story of you and yours!
Along with dreaming, it is helpful to know what shapes look the best on your finger. Many of our clients are out of town, whether from neighboring states to international countries to everywhere in between, and so, they are unable to come into the studio. That is not a problem! We often give homework to our out-of-town customers to visit a jewelry store and try on different diamonds. Our suggestion is to look at different shapes and sizes to help discover what you want. The settings and styles may not be your preference, so hold out your hand and squint your eyes, only considering the shapes and sizes of the diamonds. Then, let us know what you discover so we can create your dream ring!
We are here to help you and we love it! We design virtually for the majority of our clients, it's a fun easy and interactive process. If you're ready to get started on creating your dream ring, or if you have any questions, click here!