bonds

Our guide
to Diamond Shapes

Bonds of Brentwood is at the forefront of the diamond and jewellery industries. With over 70 years of experience, our passionate team is dedicated to ensuring that you get the most out of your experience and products from us. We are the only place for Diamonds Essex.

Round Brilliant

There are many different diamond shapes, but Brilliant Round, also referred to as Round, is the most popular shape in today’s market. Over the past 100 years the shape has been developed in order to get maximum brilliance and fire from the cut by using complicated formulas and light technologies. In addition to being the most researched and popular diamond shape on the market, you can get a lot for your money because the natural beauty of the shape itself, outshines other significant elements that make a stone more expensive. See Diamond Colour and Clarity sections and check out our diamond guide.

To ensure you get the most from the brilliance of your Round cut you should choose one that is in two highest cut grades, ideal or very good. You should also choose ideal, very good or excellent polish and symmetry grades.

Princess

The Princess cut is the second most popular cut, after the Round, and is also beautiful choice to be used on engagement rings. They are either square or rectangle shaped and even though they’re don’t have as much brilliance as the Round, they are classical and sophisticated alternative.

The style of the cut is classic and relatively new having found its way on to the market in the 1960’s. In recent years it has become the popular, less expensive alternative to the Round because when it’s cut, it retains roughly 80% of the rough diamond, whilst Round’s retain a much smaller 50%.

Cushion

Like the Princess cut,the Cushion cut is a square or rectangle shape. However unlike the Princess the corners of the stone are rounded, a bit like a cushion. The Cushion cut has a colourful history and resembles a cross between the Old Mine Cut, which was popular in the late 19th and early 20th century, and a modern Oval cut. Although the cut isn’t as vibrant as more modern cuts, if you’re looking for a truly vintage and classical style, the Cushion cut is perfect.

The Cushion cut doesn’t usually fall below 1.10 carats and has developed as a shape over the years to such variations as the Cushion Modified Brilliant cut that boasts an extra row of facets on the pavilion that actually enhances the overall beauty of the stone.

Oval

The Oval shape is a very young shape because it didn’t hit the market until the late 1950’s/ early 60’s. The shape was marketed as a variation on the Round and has often been described as having the same brilliance and fire as the Round, therefore making it a great alternative.

Oval shapes are also very popular within today’s market as there are lots of variations in their width and length. The Oval shape can cater to anyone’s needs and is perfect if you are looking for an individual shape that compliments your own unique style.

Like the Pear and Marquise cuts, Oval shapes can fall victim to the ‘bow-tie’ effect, which is a dark shadow usually found at the centre of a stone, which is caused by different light behaviours. However, this is quite an obvious imperfection and can be easily detected in different lights and from different angles.

Radiant

This shape does exactly what it says on the tin. If you love the radiance of a Round and the traditional style of the Emerald cut, the Radiant cut will be exactly what you’re looking for. Trimmed corners are what sets this cut a part from the others and this is what makes this particular shape so popular.

There is no rule when it comes to the measured lengths and widths of Radiant shapes, so when you’re shopping be sure to pin point whether you want your radiant to be more of a square or a rectangle.

Radiant shapes are very popular for engagement rings at the moment, but they must have a minimum of a four pronged setting so when you start looking keep that in mind.

Heart Shaped

What better way to tell someone you love them than with a diamond shaped like a heart. Although this is the rarest stone to find online because of its unique nature, this diamond shape could be a beautiful tribute to someone you love on Valentines Day.

It is important with the heart shape that you get highest colour grade you can afford because sometimes the colour can be obvious on the corners of the shape. Also, the diamond cutter must be highly skilled in order to produce the perfect shape for your jewellery.

Asscher Shaped

The Asscher shaped diamond cut was first produced in 1902 by the Ashcer brothers of Holland. They peaked in popularity in the roaring 20’s but lacked demand until 2002 where they made a glittering come back within the engagement ring industry.

It’s almost identical to the Emerald cut, except it’s square. It’s almost octagonal outline enhances the brilliance of the stone in comparison to other shapes within the fancy shaped family and makes for a very unique addition to any piece of jewellery.

Pear Shaped Cut

The Pear shape is one of many fancy cuts that are extremely popular within the industry, especially for diamond jewellery. It unique shape makes it perfect for earrings and pendants.

The shape of the stone, which can also be known as the ‘Tear drop’, is a combination of the Round and Marquise Brilliant cuts and usually has a facet brilliant pattern.

The most famous of the Pear Shape cut diamonds is called the Sun-drop diamond. This stone was found within a Kimberlite pipe in South Africa in 2010. And what makes it even more interesting, when the stone was tested they found the diamond was formed between 1 to 3 billion years ago.

Marquise Shaped

The name of the Marquise shape derives from the Marquise de Pompadour, who was a Lady of the French Court and official mistress to King Louis XV. The King had the shape specially designed to resemble her perfectly formed mouth.

The Marquise shape has one of the largest crowned surfaces of any diamond shape, carat to carat. However they can suffer from the ‘bow-tie’ effect, which is common amongst Pear and Oval cuts. These shadows are created by a shadow cast by the light shining through the diamond.

When used in a ring the Marquise shape is especially known for flattering the finger by elongating the look of it.

Trust Our Diamond Expertise

We are an international diamond wholesaler and we source and distribute diamonds from all over the world. With strong ties to Israel we can offer you a fantastic variety of precious stones and metals and we pride ourselves on supplying our customers with exactly what they want.

Well Established

Bonds of Brentwood only work with the finest diamonds. We are well established as a leader in high quality jewellery.

Premium Rates

Thanks to our long standing reputation we can offer competitive prices without compromising the finished product.

Excellent Customer Service

We are renowned for helping people achieve amazing pieces from our workshop in the heart of Brentwood.

Fast Response

Brilliance cannot be rushed, but we make sure we deliver when we say we are going to deliver.

New Products

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Our Customer Satisfaction Guarantee

At Bonds of Essex, we have been plying our trade in the jewellery and luxury watch markets for years. In that time, we have built up a wealth of experience to draw upon from our team of knowledgeable experts. In fact, at Bonds of Essex, we can boast experience in the luxury watch and jewellery sectors that goes back over fifty years.

So, whether you pop into our Brentwood shop looking for something special or simply want to buy from our well-organised and easy-to-navigate online store, Bonds of Essex is for you. 

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