Whoever said buying the perfect diamond ring is a walk in the park probably referred to a fairly large, maze-like park. There’s no denying that finding the perfect ring, and getting acknowledged by the recipient, can put you on cloud nine. Although, the path there can be a little dicey, strewn with jargons and phrases that can knock you out of kilter, and walking in with a little clarity on some significant aspects can help make the process almost a breeze. To help make things easier, we focus on one of the most important aspects of choosing a diamond – the Shape.
While searching for a diamond, most consumers seem to hang their hats on the much touted 4 Cs: Cut, Carat, Color and Clarity. But it is always recommended to focus on a quality cut of the rock over anything else. Want to know Why? This is because the diamond can be cut to take on various shapes and proportions, which includes the depth percentage. These proportions depend upon how the light travels through and reflects from the facets within a diamond. Deep or Shallow cut diamonds allow light to escape, losing their appeal, sparkle and value, which we do not want for our special stone, don’t we?
Today, we will be guiding you through a few tips that will help you choose an excellent diamond shape. Remember though, that picking a shape depends largely on the wearer’s personal preference, and it tends to get difficult for a consumer to grasp all the information when calculating if the diamond is worth its price or not.
Choosing a quality cut
Before you walk into the store, it’s crucial to know the difference between diamond shape and a diamond cut. The shape refers to the diamond’s outline, such as round brilliant or heart shaped. However, the cut refers to the facet depth, symmetry and reflective qualities of a diamond. So, for instance, a pear shape diamond may be cut deep or shallow, brilliant or dull, the pear shape will remain consistent.
Cut is the most important factor in determining the overall appearance of a diamond, because a poorly cut diamond will seem dull even with excellent color and clarity. On the contrary, a well-cut diamond can have a slightly lower color or clarity and still look fairly beautiful, due to its superior ability to create brilliance and sparkle.
If you want utmost radiance, make sure you always choose a diamond with a ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’ cut grade for round diamonds. Whereas, for fancy ones, a ‘Good’ or ‘Better’ cut grade will do the job for you.Moreover, if you are choosing a diamond in this range, make sure its symmetry and polish are of ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’ quality so that the impact of the above average cut is not concealed.
Even if size is your primary concern, try to avoid ‘Poor’ cut diamonds. Despite the lower price, it is an unacceptable trade-off because of the low quality of diamonds.
To check a cut grade it’s important to incorporate a variety of factors, such as polish, symmetry, table percentage, depth percentage, cut size, girdle width. A common mistake is to evaluate these individual factors instead of mainly relying on the cut grade, which already takes them into account.
Right weight of the carat
Secondly, you would want to buy the largest carat that will fit within your budget range. Since carat weight has the greatest effect on a diamond’s price, this is probably the most important decision you will make before buying a diamond. If you have noticed, people generally flaunt their stones by mentioning the carat weight. But ‘the larger-the better’ policy may not work in your case here as higher the dimensions of a diamond does not always translate to a high quality stone. These are crucial decisions you have to make, so make sure to do your research thoroughly before you purchase. Still can’t figure it out? Ask your partner. It’s always good to know what exactly your partner wants.
Finding the perfect color
Now, mind you that there’s absolutely no reason to overpay for color when buying your engagement ring. But we cannot deny the fact that a diamond’s color has a genuine effect on both a diamond’s appearance and price. The trick here is to choose a setting that will work best with the color of the diamond. Fun fact, a lower color diamond can cost 30% less while looking exactly the same in the ring. So, you better keep your eyes wide open while shopping!
Have a ‘clear’ picture
Another area that you can ‘sacrifice a little to save a lot’ is clarity. Clarity measures the density and imperfections in a diamond. Flawless is the highest grade on the clarity scale, bestowed to the rarest and most posh diamonds. But a lower clarity diamond that is still clean to the naked eye will look identical to a flawless stone.
Now-a-days, more and more online and off-line retailers offer virtual assistance for their customers, to have a much detailed and microscopic 3600 view of the diamonds. When taking the 4C’s into account, you will also want to ensure that the diamond has been certified by proper authorities.
Know your shapes
Did you know diamonds come in an array of shapes, which is a plus point as customers have many options to choose from now. The prominent ones are: Round Diamonds, Emerald Cut Diamonds, Princess Cut Diamonds, Cushion Cut Diamonds, Asscher Cut Diamonds, Oval Diamonds, Pear Shaped Diamonds, Radiant Cut Diamonds, Marquise Diamonds and Heart Shaped Diamonds. Each cut has its own unique qualities that make them so different from one another. To know more about the details of each diamond cut you can read up more on different cuts of diamonds that are available in many online diamond stores. One such store is diamondkart.com where we can get all the information before we even think about buying a diamond ring for our loved ones and thus helping us making the right choice.
Personal taste is the real winner
While, it may seem a smarter option to compare different diamond shapes and pick one on the basis of affordability, the most important element here is choosing a shape that you like. This might sound obvious, but do not disregard a cut you genuinely love with another shape of the same size simply because you could save a couple of thousand rupees.
When it comes to an engagement ring, there are other choices that you can make which might help you save a little of your hard-earned money. For instance, if you decide to opt for white gold over platinum or choose a diamond with a little more color in it, since yellow or rose gold settingsget the extra color tinge but might not even be visible to the naked eye.
Even though the clarity, color and carat of any diamond are highly important, the shape of your rock is what you will flaunt. So, if you’ve fallen head over heels for that princess cut, don’t settle for anything less!
