WHAT IS A PRINCESS CUT DIAMOND?
When people think of diamond engagement rings, the ring that usually comes to mind is the solitaire. In these rings, a solitary diamond is set of a simple metal band. The diamond is the center of attention, so its cut is crucial. The cut of a diamond should highlight its assets and create an eye-catching brilliance. It's because of these properties that the Princess cut has become so popular.
A Princess cut diamond has a square profile with beveled sides, like an inverted pyramid. It is considered to be a very efficient way to cut a diamond, as it allows for much of the carat weight of the rough diamond to be retained while providing optimum iridescence and sparkle. Although similar to round brilliant cut diamonds, princess cut stones are often considered to be more modern and stylish.
Princess cut diamonds are not only beautiful, they are often more affordable than Round Brilliant cut alternatives. Because of the efficiency of the cut, you can usually purchase a princess cut diamond for significantly less than a round brilliant cut diamond of the same carat weight. Although they do usually have a smaller diameter, Princess cut diamonds more than makeup for it in brilliance.
In relation to other cuts of diamonds, the princess cut is very new. In its short life, it has rapidly become one of the most popular diamond cuts. It is an exciting alternative to the traditional round brilliant cut diamond, with a beauty and elegance that can't be matched.
The Princess Cut owes its shape to cutters wanting to maximize weight but also maintaining a high level of brilliance. This helps to cut down on waste from the rough. Two diamonds with the same width and depth dimensions as each other, one a Princess Cut and one Round Brilliant Cut will have different carat weights. This is due to the fact that the Princess Cut will have four corners that the Round Brilliant Cut will not and thus will weigh more. The Princess Cut offers buyers an alternative shape whilst maintaining the brilliance levels associated with The Round Brilliant Cut.
The appearance of the Princess Cut when on the finger is that of being a larger gem than the Round Brilliant because of its rectangular shape. This rectangular shape also helps to lengthen the appearance of the finger when on a shorter finger. As well helping to lengthen short fingers it also helps to narrow wider fingers. Optically the appearance of the Princess Cut has a four pointed star on the top or table of the diamond, this created by the vertical nature of the facets and the contrast between dark and light.
History
The Princess cut can be traced back to 1971, where Basil Watermayer invented a new diamond shape called the Barion cut. This specific cut proved to be very difficult due to the need for incredibly symmetrical lines. After this, in 1979, the Quadrillion was patented - this was similar to the Barion - however, it only had 49 facets in comparison to the 80 facets which the Barion had.
Though many believe that is where the Princess cut originated from, the true introduction to the Princess cut goes back to 1961. Arpad Nagy, a diamond cutter in London, created the Profile cut but often called it the Princess cut.
Technical Specifications
- The Princess Cut diamond has 57 facets.
- There are 21 facets on the crown, 4 on the girdle and 33 on the pavilion.
- Princess cuts with on 25 facets on the pavilion are also quite common.
- The perfect possible ratio for this specific cut is 1.0