Your guide to buy round cut brilliant diamond jewelry
The round cut diamond, also known as the round brilliant cut diamond, enjoys the prestigious position of being the most popular shape for diamond engagement rings. The round cut diamond offers exceptional white light reflection known as brilliance. With a superb, timeless appearance, round cut diamonds are often used in engagement rings, necklaces and other jewelry items.
As technology advanced over time, diamond cutting techniques became more refined. Cut design progressed toward larger tables, smaller cutlets and longer, leaner facets.
The round cut diamond is the popular shape for engagement rings. Round cut diamond engagement ring designs are so popular because the round brilliant diamond cutting style is able to optimize light reflections to make it more brilliant and shiny than any other diamond shapes.
Also, their circular design makes it a suitable shape for different finger size and ring settings. It is a classic shape that looks great on any type of hand and will never go out of style.
The round diamond contains 58 facets, of which 33 can be found on the crown of the diamond while the other 25 are on the pavilion. The stone has a cone shape which funnels light through to the top enhancing the reflection of light from the diamond and causing the diamond to shine brilliantly.
This makes the round cut one of the most loved of all the diamond cuts and a popular option for solitaire engagement rings. Also, the simplicity of the shape complements the diamond, keeping the focus on the sparkle and quality of the stone itself.
Cut Quality
When picking a round diamond, cut is the most important attribute of the 4Cs that you should pay attention to. This is because cut quality determines a diamond’s sparkle factor and has the biggest impact on its visual appearance.
Clarity Grades for Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds
Gemological labs like GIA grade round diamonds for cut quality. They assign ratings that range from Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor.
Due to their facet pattern and cutting shape, round diamonds are able to reflect more light than any other diamond shape. This means that the color tint of a round cut diamond can be concealed by the sparkle and you don’t need a high color grade to get an icy white appearance.
While D-F colorless diamonds offer a cool appearance, they are highly sought after and come at a price premium. For a practical shopping experience, the best color rating would be a G color as you avoid the premiums while getting a white looking diamond.
While most consumers may like white colored diamonds, there are many who love warm-toned diamonds on the lower spectrum of the color scale. This is particularly true if you are looking for vintage pattern engagement rings or using yellow/rose gold metals for your ring setting.
Going down the color scale diamond would be perfectly fine as the warm tint complements the style of the engagement ring. The higher the clarity grade, the more expensive the diamond is.
The size of the diamond should also be taken into consideration when choosing the color. Larger diamonds tend to show more color. For an Excellent color grading, following are the specifications to look for:
- If the diamond is less than 1.0 carat, a color grade of D-G is considered Excellent. Avoid grades L-M as this is a Fair-Poor rating diamond.
- If the diamond is between 1.0 – 2.0 carats, choose grades D-F for an Excellent grading and avoid K-L which will give you a Poor grade.
- If your diamond is over 2.0 carats, D-F will give you an Excellent rating while I-J will be Poor.
Cost
The price of a round cut brilliant diamond is determined by different factors such as cut, color, and clarity and carat size. Compared to the other diamond shapes, the round cut is relatively the most expensive because they require more rough diamond to be polished away during the cutting process.
Final Thoughts on Round Cut Brilliant Diamond Jewelry
Round cut diamonds are highly versatile and can go well with almost any kind of ring setting design due to their geometric shape. Since the round shape is the most popular choice for engagement rings, there is a wide range of Custom diamond jewelry designs available today.
When choosing ring settings, one of the main things to look out for is workmanship quality. This is because better craftsmanship in the ring setting would not only enhance the aesthetic beauty of the ring; it would also provide additional security for your pure diamond.
