Cut of a diamond is the most crucial factor that decides its brilliance and diamond cutting is more of an expert craft. There are a number loose diamond cuts available and each one is unique in terms of brilliance and light performance.
Round Cut
It is the most popular diamond cut and about 75% of the diamonds sold are round cuts. The cut is superior to the fancy cuts in terms of brilliance and light performance, which justifies its relatively high cost. In order to get a perfect round cut, a large portion of the stone has to be removed during the cutting process making each carat retained expensive.
Princess Cut
It is one of the most popular fancy cuts and goes well with any ring style. When compared with round cut, loose princess cut diamond has a lower price because there is less wastage of rough diamonds while cutting a princess shape. The shape is cut from an octahedron shaped rough diamond and the four sided pyramid shape of the cut allows two equal sized princess shapes to be cut from two halves of the octahedron stone. The process retains about 60% of the rough stone after cutting and the greater yield helps in lowering the price of princess cut.
The princess cut has a longer corner-to-corner measure when compared with the diameter of the round cut, creating an illusion of greater size. The cut is usually shaped like a square but rectangular princess cut diamonds are also available and as the diamond gets rectangular, its price decreases.
The corners of the princess cut diamond are more prone to chipping which necessitates the protection of the corners by means of prongs. The corners are also the locations with maximum probability for inclusions because they were once the corners of the rough octahedron stone and the four-prong setting perfectly hides the inclusions.
Among the fancy cuts, the princess cut only comes close to round cut in terms of brilliance, which makes it an ideal choice with affordable price, appreciable sparkling, and unique shape.
Oval Cut
The oval cut is a modification of the round cut and thus possesses appreciable brilliance and fire, and their characteristic elongated shape creates the illusion of greater size. For people who appreciate the brilliance of round cut but wants something that is not so common, oval cut is the perfect choice.
Options with varying broadness are available in oval cuts and you are free to choose one that you find appealing. Different options go well with different setting types and the length to width ratio of 1.35 to 1.5 is considered as the classic oval cut. Thinner oval cuts suit diamond settings in which the central diamond has side stones adding to its charm.
Marquise Cut
Marquise diamond cut is a modification of the brilliant cut and because it is long and narrow, it can create the illusion of greater size. When compared with other diamond shapes, the surface area of marquise diamonds is quite large which helps in maximizing the perceived size.
Cushion Cut
Cushion cut is more like a square cut with rounded corners and looks like a cushion or pillow and hence the name. Even though the brilliance of cushion cut is not in par with that of round cuts, the cut has appreciable fire that enhances its appeal.
The classic shape of cushion cut is a square with rounded corners but rectangular shapes are also popular.
Emerald Cut
The cut gets its name from its traditionally popular use in cutting emerald stones and the step cuts of the pavilion of the diamond and its large table makes the loose emerald cut diamond unique. It is well known for the hall of mirrors effect it produces by the interplay of dark and light planes.
Emerald cuts have rectangular or square shape and the length to width ratio of the classic emerald shape is 1.5.
Asscher Cut
The asscher cut is similar to the emerald cut but it is square shaped and has a higher crown and smaller table different from that of emerald cut. The better brilliance of asscher cut when compared with emerald cut is a result of this unique combination.
Heart Cut
The heart cut diamond is popular in solitaires and the cut is shaped like the heart, the universal symbol of love. A V shaped cleft is cut on the oval shape and the sides are rounded to make the two halves of the heart shape that demands a high level of symmetry.
As the carat sizes decreases, the shape of the heart cut becomes less visible, demanding a carat size not less than 0.5 for the heart cut.
New diamond cuts evolve by improvisation of existing cuts and each of the diamond cut has its unique details. The choice of a cut is completely personal.