Emerald Cut Diamonds…

One of the most classic cuts on the market today is the Emerald Cut Diamond. This design, originally made for the Emerald stone itself, is one of the most popular in the market. The Emerald Cut Diamond is about as sophisticated as a diamond can get. These diamonds look beautiful on the hand of the wearer, particularly at a black-tie event or summering in the Hamptons…

Most diamonds try to create a “brillianting” effect, by cutting the facets on the stone in a way the bombards the eyes above with flashes of light, color and scintillation. The light show on the Emerald Cut on the other hand, provides a “hall of mirrors” effect. With this diamond shape, one does not know where the stone begins and where it ends. While the light show is less flashy, it is oh-so-interesting none-the-less.

Emerald Cut Diamonds come in all variations of squares and rectangles. The classic, and most common, Emerald Cut, has a length to width ratio of about 1.5 times. However, the stone can be more or less squared depending on the desires of the wearer.

The Emerald Cut provides long lines of dramatic flashes which tend to take their time as the eye passes over them (as opposed to a round brilliant cut which provides light flashes rapid-fire). The Emerald Diamond Cut is designed with long step cuts and an oversized table which amplifies the effect.

Common Carat Weight of Emerald Cuts

Wearers of Emerald Cut stones tend to choose larger diamonds on the setting than those who wear round brilliant cuts, or other traditional shapes. The reasons are manifold, but the most common is that the stone needs to be a reasonable size to provide “wow-appeal” to viewers. It’s not uncommon to see a 2 – 2.5 carat Emerald Cut Diamond on the ring finger of the wearer, but it would be less common to see the same sized diamond for a round brilliant cut wearer. This is because round brilliant cut diamonds display the flash, color and scintillation that one would expect in a diamond even at the smaller size points. It’s much more difficult to gaze into a one carat Emerald Cut Diamond than it is a 2-carat stone – a large consideration for buyers of Emerald Cut Diamonds is the actual view inside the diamond (i.e. the hall of mirrors described above); therefore, the wearer needs the larger stone to achieve the maximum effect.

Quality Considerations

No matter what size you choose, make sure that you don’t sacrifice clarity or cut in an Emerald Cut Diamond. Clarity is particularly important because the viewer will not be distracted by the multitude of flashes coming at them the way they would with a brilliant cut diamond, so any Emerald Cut stone that is not “eye-clean” (SI1 or better) will likely display the inclusion front and center.

Emerald Cut Prices

Given what we have said above, one would think that larger Emerald Cut Diamonds would be out the price range for most people. While it is true that these stones can get very expensive at uber-large sizes, because of their shape, less diamond rough is wasted in the cutting process. This makes them less expensive that some other shapes (particularly round brilliant cut stones) with the same carat weight.

Jewelers.NYC recommends James Allen Online for Near Wholesale Prices on Emerald Cut Diamonds

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