The Many Diamond Shapes

When choosing a diamond ring to present to your potential new bride you want to be sure and get the best cut and clarity for your money as well as the shape that suites your sweetheart the best.

There is the most popular cut of diamonds, the round cut, which usually is the choice among brides who prefer the more classic ring. This cut looks gorgeous alone or with other smaller diamonds surrounding it.

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Some people, however, prefer a more fancy shape for their diamond and choose the radiant cut. These diamonds have a square or rectangular shape. These diamonds have 70 facets which maximize the way the light bounces off of it.

For all those princesses out there, there is a cut for you, too. The princess cut diamond is oblong, square or almost square but it is cut in a different way than other diamonds so that the facets reflect more light.

Marquise diamonds have an extended shape and are pointy at the ends. This diamond is used often as a solitaire or as with the round diamond, and looks beautiful when accompanied by smaller diamonds. This shape was created and was also called the “navette cut” and was produced during the reign of King Louis XV of France who wanted to create a diamond in the shape of the mouth of his mistress, the Marchioness Madame de Pompadour.

Another shape of a diamond is an oval. This shape is very popular with women who have smaller hands and fingers. Because the oval shape is long and thin it makes a woman’s fingers appear longer and perhaps a bit thinner than they are. What woman wouldn’t want her hands and fingers to appear thinner and shapelier?

Heart shaped diamonds win the hearts of many women because of their delicate design. These diamonds can be difficult to cut because it takes great skill to get the shape just right. The way the diamond is actually shaped is based on the person who cuts it and can vary somewhat.

A trillion shaped diamond was developed in the late 1970s and is a variation of the radiant cut but in a triangular shape. This diamond is shaped like a triangle that has equilateral sides and is cut using the combination cut and the step cut which is used similarly in a brilliant cut diamond.

There are also the emerald shaped and asscher cut diamonds that look similar however the emerald shape is more like a long rectangle with cut corners, whereas the asscher cut looks squarer and, as a result, the diamond appears more brilliant.