What Are
Fancy-Cut
Diamonds?
Image by Peter Johnston © GIA
By the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)
The marquise on the left has a standard
facet arrangement on its tip, while the
other three stones have French tips.
This faceting style protects the points of
marquises, pears and hearts.
iamond cuts have
come a long way
since the introduction
of the first round
brilliant. Thanks
to advances in cutting technologies and
the unlimited imaginations of cutters,
diamonds can be cut in an incredible
variety of ways. Today, fancy cuts like
cushions, princess, ovals and marquise are
more important than ever, maintaining
their popularity against the still-dominant
round. They will always attract the
diamond buyer who loves the unique
qualities that make them shine in their
own special way.
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Fancy cuts do receive quality rankings
on trade price lists. But buyers are less
likely to follow strict guidelines when
dealing in fancy-cut diamonds as each
stone is unique and is seldom purchased
sight unseen.
While the word “cut” can refer to
a gem’s proportions and finish, we are
referring to shape and cutting style.
Shape refers to the face-up outline of a
gem, and cutting style is the arrangement
of its facets.
Popular cuts
The face-up shape of a fashioned
diamond is usually the first thing you
notice about it. A triangular, square
or pear-shaped outline stands out
immediately in a crowd of rounds. Because
shape is so noticeable, it’s often a major
selling point of a fancy-cut diamond.
A diamond shopper often comes into
a jewellery store with a specific shape
already in mind. Fancy cuts provide a
way for many customers to express their
individuality, and may appeal to the less
traditional consumer. They can also
be versatile design elements in multidiamond jewellery.
Whether a fancy cut is newly popular
or traditional, it’s a good idea to be familiar
with its appearance and uses. Because
Photograph by Robert Weldon © GIA
TechTalk
(From left) Cushion, square-emerald, emerald, Radiant, oval, marquise and pear-cut diamonds.
they’re all so different, each fancy cut has
its own set of variables.
Brilliant-cut shapes
Diamond manufacturers have long
experimented with a variety of shapes and
cutting styles. More recently, they have
worked to make brilliant-cut fancy shapes
in an attempt to bring the round brilliant’s
superior light return to oddly shaped or
low colour rough. At the same time, this
has led to new cuts that have increased
profits by increasing rough yield.
Cushion: A classic brilliant cut
that’s generally rectangular or squarish
with slightly curved sides and/or rounded
corners. One traditional trade term for the
brilliant-cut cushion is “antique cushion”.
Half-moon: This cut resembles a
round brilliant divided in half from table to
culet, creating a half-circle face-up outline.
Broken rounds are occasionally re-cut into
half-moons.
Heart: A brilliant cut with a heartshaped face-up outline. This classic cut has
a shield-shaped table and culet, 32 crown
facets, and 24 pavilion facets. The heart is a
symbol of romance for many customers.
Marquise: An elongated, elliptical
brilliant cut with curved sides and pointed
ends. It is also called a navette, from the
Latin for ship, because its face-up outline
resembles a little boat. The marquise
gained popularity in the 1970s, especially
in bridal jewellery, but lost ground to the
princess cut by the beginning of the 21st
century.
Oval: A classic brilliant cut with
an elliptical girdle outline that closely
resembles the round, making it a good
choice for customers who appreciate
something that’s just a little bit different.
Pear: The face-up outline of a
pear-shaped, brilliant-cut diamond is
rounded at one end and tapered to a point
at the other. The facet arrangement is a
variation of the round brilliant cut. Pears
can be almost as brilliant as rounds, yet
provide a pleasing departure in a shape
that’s traditional and timeless. In addition,
a large pear-cut diamond tends to look
more graceful on the finger than a round
of the same weight. A long, narrow pear is
sometimes called a pendeloque.
Princess: A square or rectangular
brilliant cut developed in the late 1970s.
Princess cuts surpass round brilliants in
yield, retaining about 80% of the rough
from which they’re cut. (Round brilliants
typically only retain about 50%.) Their
angular shape and considerable brilliance
have made them popular alternatives to
rounds.
Radiant: Patented in the late 1970s
by Henry Grossbard, the Radiant cut is
a square or rectangular mixed cut with
bevelled corners. The Radiant’s angular
shape and brilliant-cut facets make it a
scintillating alternative to the emerald cut.
Radiants retain about 60% of the rough
from which they’re cut and can be used to
concentrate colour and shift a diamond
into the fancy-colour category.
Semi-navette: A three-sided fancy
cut with two rounded sides that’s similar to
the triangular brilliant, but is actually onehalf of a marquise. Broken marquises are
sometimes re-cut into semi-navettes.
Shield brilliant: This cut
resembles a warrior’s shield in outline. The
number of sides, as well as their lengths and
angles, tends to vary.
Star brilliant: This whimsical
brilliant cut – a five-pointed face-up outline
– is fairly uncommon because so much
weight is lost during fashioning.
Triangular brilliant: This
cut’s facets add sparkle to its angular shape.
It’s a shallow cut designed to make efficient
use of flat rough and is a practical cutting
option for a macle. It has a contemporary
look that’s popular as matched side stones.
Triangular brilliant cuts are also known as
trillions; there are proprietary triangular
cuts called the Trielle and the Trilliant.
Fancy cuts have some special shape
components with special names. The
central area of the side of a pear, marquise,
heart or oval, where it curves out slightly,
is called the belly. This is an important
location on a stone: it’s where the width is
measured. The area between the belly and
the point is called the wing.
The rounded end of a pear is called
its head. The curved edges between the
head and the belly of a pear or oval are
called shoulders. The rounded portions
of a heart shape are called lobes, and the
V-shaped indentation between them is
called the cleft.
Because their pointed ends can be
vulnerable to breakage, some marquises,
pears and hearts are cut with French tips.
This faceting variation increases durability
by replacing the large bezel facet at the
point with star and upper girdle facets.
The bottom of a fancy cut, where the
pavilion facets meet, is called the keel line. It
runs the length of the stone and sometimes
includes or passes through the culet. n
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