Most ring designs are created around the actual shape of the diamond. The shape you choose doesn’t matter – your personal taste should be what guides your decisions when it comes to the shape and design of the ring.
Pick a shape
When it comes to engagement rings, the most popular shape is a round brilliant, so named for giving off the most brilliance. Depending on your (or your partner’s) taste, a more individual shape, like a cushion cut or an oval. Of course, if you don’t know what the best shape for your partner would be, start your investigations by asking her friends and family.
People who know, understand and like diamonds have a preference for a specific shape. The shape is, for many people, even more important than whether or not it is a princess cut diamond engagement ring, and whether that affects the quality or not. It is definitely a good idea to find out from the person that the ring is intended for, what their preferred shape and design is. The fancier the ring and the higher the price, the more important it will be to make sure that they are happy with the shape.
Does it make the cut?
The cut quality is an aspect that has the most influence over a diamond’s appearance. Diamond vendors don’t use standardised cut grades, but as a rule, Excellent and Ideal cut diamonds are the best to choose.
Of the value attributed to the four C’s of diamonds (cut, carat weight, colour and clarity), cut grades were not originated by GIA. GIA is responsible for certifying diamonds according to a grading report, and is one of the most respected independent institutions on earth. They do not claim any ownership by diamond wholesalers or retailers. The four C’s scale that is used today was brought into existence by GIA.
Do your best
My opinion is that people should aim to find the cheapest diamond they can. Some cheap diamonds that are commonly used for engagement rings have small imperfections, but these can generally not be seen with the naked eye. Cut is generally described according to general terms, namely Excellent, Very Good, Fair, and Poor. However, these terms a defined or applied as a standard. A diamond retailer is free to assign any cut grade they want to, based on their own set of standards.
The way to get around this is: if you need a round brilliant diamond, only look at diamonds graded “Ideal/Excellent”. If an unusual shape is important to you, you could expand your search to include “Premium”. Always remember that many websites, sellers and retailers tend to display their own cut rating, which is often far less strict that it would have been following GIA grading.
Keep your options open
Just because the system is inconsistent, do not dismiss cut grade as unimportant, because it is, in fact, of great importance. Just because many sellers are not able to correctly report complicated cut grades, doesn’t mean that you should exclude certain options from your search, when in fact that might mean losing out on excellent options.
Disclosure: This is a featured post.