Cuts and Shapes of Diamonds

Diamonds are cut into a range of shapes that are normally designed to display their two most important features: fire and brilliance. Diamonds must be cut and polished to accentuate these features because rough stones do not show this beauty that diamond gemstones are known to capture.

Diamonds that are not cut to the Tolkowsky's round brilliant shape (or later variations) specifications are well-known as "fancy cuts." fashionable fancy cuts include the baguette (from the French, meaning rod or loaf of bread), marquise, princess cut (square outline), heart, briolette (a form of the rose cut), and pear cuts.

The latest cuts that have been introduced into the jewelry industry are the "cushion" "radiant" (like princess cuts, but with rounded edges instead of square edges) and "Asscher" cuts. Many fancy colored diamonds are now being cut in accordance with these new styles. Normally, these "fancy cuts" are not held to the same stringent standards as Tolkowsky-derived round brilliants and there are less explicit mathematical guidelines of angles which determine a well-cut stone.

Fashion greatly influence popular cuts: the baguette cut—which accentuates a diamond's luster and downplays its fire was very trendy during the Art Deco period, whereas the princess cut—which enhances a diamond's fire rather than its luster—is currently gaining recognition. The princess cut is also popular with diamond cutters: of all the cuts, it wastes the least of the original rough crystal.

During the past decades, new diamond cuts have been developed, often inspired by a modification of an existing cut. Some of these new diamond cuts often have extra facets included. Instead of actual improvements to the art, these newly developed cuts are usually viewed as more of an attempt at branding by diamond sellers.

So, the shape of a diamond is as vital as the cut, and very diverse in connotation, even though the two are interconnected in accentuating the diamond gemstone's brilliance and fire.