The round brilliant
Fifty-seven facets, or fifty-eight if the stone has a culet, arranged in a pattern designed for one purpose: to catch light and throw it back. It is the most engineered shape there is and the only one GIA grades for cut.
It is also the most expensive per carat, and the reason is waste. Cutting a round out of rough crystal discards more material than any other shape. You are paying for the part that ended up on the floor.
The fancy shapes, and what each one does
- Oval. Spreads wider than a round of the same weight, so it looks larger, and the length elongates the finger. Watch for the bow-tie, a dark band across the middle that shows on a poorly proportioned stone.
- Princess. Square outline with sharp corners and brilliant faceting. Those corners are the weak point, so the setting has to cover them properly.
- Emerald. A step cut, with long flat facets instead of small ones. It flashes like a hall of mirrors rather than sparkling. It also hides nothing, so buy a grade higher on both colour and clarity than you would in a brilliant cut.
- Cushion. A softened square with larger facets and a warmer, slower glow. Reads vintage without being a reproduction.
- Pear. One rounded end and one point. The point needs a V-prong to protect it.
- Marquise. Two points, and the most spread you can get for the weight. Looks considerably larger than its carat suggests.
- Radiant. An emerald outline with brilliant faceting inside it, so you get the shape without the hall-of-mirrors effect.
- Asscher. A square step cut with deeply clipped corners. Geometric, and unmistakably deliberate.
- Heart. The hardest shape to cut well. Symmetry is everything and a poor one is obvious from across a table.
Why two stones of the same shape look different
Because the grading report stops short on fancy shapes. Within ovals alone, the length-to-width ratio changes the entire look: around 1.35 reads almost round, around 1.50 reads clearly elongated. Neither is correct. It is a decision you make with the stone in your hand, which is also why ordering a fancy shape from a photograph on a screen goes wrong so often.
What shape does to the price
Round costs the most per carat for the reason above. Most fancy shapes retain more of the original rough, which means the same budget buys more visible size. If size on the finger is the priority, an oval or a marquise will get you further than a round will.
Seeing them beside each other
Shapes are impossible to compare in writing and take about two minutes to compare in person. Bring the budget, and we will lay out the shapes it reaches, on a hand, under normal light rather than showroom spotlights.
