Diamond Shapes

There are two main types of diamond shapes: brilliant and step cut. When purchasing a step cut diamond, it’s always preferable to choose a higher quality stone as sometimes inclusions can be seen which can affect the aesthetic beauty of the stone. With brilliant cut diamonds, it is not necessary to choose such a high quality diamond as the brilliance of the stone masks any small inclusions that may be present.

The names of the diamond shapes illustrated above are commonly used when dealing with the general public; however diamond laboratories sometimes refer to them using different names. For example, the ‘Princess Cut’ is often referred to as ‘Square Modified Brilliant’, whilst the ‘Asscher Cut’ is often called ‘Square Emerald Cut’. This is due to the fact that some diamond shape names are branded and therefore cannot be used by diamond laboratories.

If you are looking for a shape that’s not listed above or would like further clarification on any aspect of diamond shapes, please feel free to call our diamond experts at Steven Stone on 0161 233 9977 or send us an email.

Diamond ratios explained

Diamond ratios are very important. A ratio is a measurement of how square or rectangular a diamond is. The only diamond for which the ratio is irrelevant is the round brilliant diamond.

For all other diamond shapes, it’s very important as the ratio affects the beauty of the stone. To obtain an accurate ratio for any given diamond, simply divide the length by the width.

Here are the recommended ratios, table% and depth% for diamond shapes.