Diamonds can be cut into many different shapes including round, princess cut, marquise, emerald cut and oval cut. The most commonly desired shape of diamond is the round brilliant cut, followed closely by the princess cut diamond. Anything other than a round brilliant cut diamond are called a fancy shape diamonds. Different shaped diamonds produce varying levels of light reflection and brightness, and as there is no cut grading system for fancy shaped diamonds, the upward appearance and overall quality of a diamond can vary substantially. As an example, a cushion cut diamond can be rectangular or square, and when comparing stones of the same carat weight, the visible size and the brightness of the diamonds will also vary.
Fancy shaped diamonds are generally cut into the biggest size stone they can to retain as much of the rough diamond as its found in the ground as possible. This mostly results in a diamond that has a large top spread but is quite shallow, or a smaller top facing spread with a lot of depth. This are poorly cut diamonds and bigger is not always better. The best diamond cutters will sacrifice the weight of the stone in order to produce a brighter more sparkly diamond. This is why we believe that it is so important to eye view each diamond individually and compared with others as one can literally out shine another. You need to ensure that your stones brightness and quality of the quality of the diamond is not compromised. Be aware that you will pay a premium for a diamond that has a better cut as sizing will be compromised in exchange for the brightness of the diamond.
