What is a Princess Cut Diamond?
A Princess Cut diamond is a traditional square diamond with exceptional fire and brilliance. The inverted pyramid of the rough diamond stone is used to create this fancy shape diamond. Princess Cuts are the most brilliant diamond shapes and are a popular choice for engagement rings.
The best Princess Cuts have a distinct square shape and a length to width ratio of 1.0-1.05. While rectangle Princess Cuts are available, they are not desirable due to their lack of brilliance. Princess cut engagement rings with an Excellent or Ideal cut quality are truly stunning.
If you see the phrase "princess shape," it means the same thing as "princess cut." There is no distinction; however, Princess Cut is the term used in the diamond industry.
Depending on how the diamond is cut, a Princess Cut diamond has between 50 and 58 facets. The pavilion and crown have the most facets, with a few on the girdle. Princess Cuts are also known for having two to four chevron patterns, which are cross patterns visible when viewing the diamond from above.
When a diamond has two chevron patterns, it reflects more bright white and coloured light. When a diamond has four chevron patterns, it has more scintillation, which results in more small flashes of white and coloured light when the diamond moves. Check each Princess Cut diamond carefully to ensure it has the brilliance and fire you're looking for.
Is Princess Cut Diamond Popular?
For their engagement rings, an increasing number of people prefer a princess cut over a round brilliant. According to the Diamond Cut article on Wikipedia, A. Nagy of London invented the modern Princess Cut in 1960.
In today's market, the Princess Cut is widely regarded as the runner-up to the Round Brilliant. According to the chart from Jogia Diamonds' blog that we refer to in our article about Diamond Shapes, Princess Cuts account for 23% of all searches on their site.
That's still far from the 64 percent for Round Brilliants, but consider that the Emerald Cut came in second with only 3 percent of searches. The Princess Cut is firmly in second place.
Whats so special about Princess Cut Diamond?
Princess Cut diamonds are less expensive than Round Brilliant diamonds and many other diamond shapes because the majority of the rough stone is preserved during the cutting process. The Princess Cut is the second most popular diamond shape, and it is both affordable and brilliant.
Princess Cut diamonds have a high level of brilliance, which means they reflect a lot of white light or "sparkle." Because of the way they are cut from the rough stone, Princess Cuts have some of the most brilliance of any diamond shape.
Because of their square length-to-width ratio, Princess Cuts appear slightly smaller than other diamonds of comparable carat weight. The diameter and surface area of a Princess Cut are smaller.
