The cut of stones used in diamond rings, earrings, and other jewellery has a significant impact on the look and style of the final product. Cut is one of the four Cs of diamond quality, and while different cuts are used for different diamond jewellery purposes, a particular kind of cut may also be chosen to avoid flaws in the raw stone or make the best of an oddly shaped fragment. The various cuts gather light into the stone and make the diamond sparkle in different ways, too.
The most common cut found in diamond rings is the round brilliant. Two of this shape fit into a normal diamond crystal without much wasted material. The style evolved over centuries, and now modern laser cutting methods mean that very elaborate round brilliants can now be made. This kind of cut gathers light well and produces an excellent sparkle.
The princess cut is based on a square or sometimes rectangular design. Again, they are a popular choice for diamond rings and also stud earrings. Sometimes called a square modified brilliant cut, this style uses diamond crystal even more efficiently than the round brilliant cut. That is the reason that a princess cut diamond ring will usually be slightly cheaper than a ring with a round brilliant stone of the same carat weight, even if the two are of the same quality.
The marquise cut is more oval in shape. Drop-style diamond earrings in this cut are common although it is also used effectively in rings. There are hundreds of other designs, most of them falling under the ‘fancy cut’ heading.
