Whether you’re shopping for a diamond engagement ring, investing in a classic piece of diamond jewellery or have found yourself on the used engagement ring market, an important consideration when it comes to price and value is the shape of the stone. We’ve talked at length about the 4 Cs and what they mean in terms of establishing the quality of a diamond, so let’s now take a look at how the shape can also affect a diamond’s value.
When buying a diamond, you’ll notice that the shape directly influences the price. This is primarily down to demand; the more popular the shape, the higher the price tag tends to be. For this reason, a round cut diamond with its incredible brilliance is generally more valuable than other shapes, due to it being by far the most popular diamond shape on today’s market.
Any shapes other than a round cut is referred to as a ‘fancy shape’, e.g. princess, emerald, asscher, cushion, radiant, pear, oval, marquise and heart. When looking at second hand engagement rings for sale, in terms of the stone’s shape a round cut diamond will fetch a higher price, whereas a fancy diamond engagement ring such as a marquise with the exact same attributes would prove to be less valuable.
Diamonds with a cushion cut and oval cut are also typically more affordable, along with shapes that have less of a demand like trillion or pear.
Another factor in the higher value of a round cut diamond is down to the cutting process. A larger rough stone is required to cut a round diamond and so more of the raw material is wasted. In comparison, other fancy cuts like a princess cut typically cost less per carat due to retaining more of the stone and causing less waste.
When discussing the shape of the diamond it’s important to bare in mind that this refers to the geometric outline of the stone, but it can also be known as a ‘cut’ – and is not to be confused with the cut grade. The two do, however, work in conjunction to affect the price of the diamond, as a poor cut grade will result in the diamond being less valuable. The cut grade refers to the faceting of the stone, including factors such as symmetry and proportions. Each shape also has certain desirable ratios and so the closer to these the stone is, the more valuable it will be, for example the ideal round cut diamond is 1-1.02 length to width ratio.
Although the shape of a diamond does affect its value, you’ll also need to determine the overall quality of the diamond to truly understand its value. Find out more about which factors are considered during this assessment here.
If you have your heart set on a particular shape of diamond, use our Diamond Finder to search for the perfect stone. AWDB are wholesale diamond engagement ring specialists, not only will we help create beautiful custom items, but we also buy unwanted jewellery at a competitive price and can help guide you to make sure you get a fair and uncompromised valuation.