Types of Cuts for Diamond Earrings and How to Select a Cut

How Important Is Cut for Diamond Earrings?

When choosing a diamond cut, there are two characteristics you should pay attention to: (1) the quality grade of the cut and (2) the cut’s shape.

Round-cut diamond halo earrings

Cut quality is important for a simple reason: A higher quality grade means a more proportional cut, and the better the proportions of a diamond, the better able it is to retain and reflect light, resulting in higher brilliance.

In general, the more big and visible a diamond, the more important it is for its cut to be of high quality.

Since the stones in earrings are relatively small, you shouldn’t obsess over having the highest cut quality possible.

Otherwise, you would be paying more money for a feature that doesn’t get noticed much, as the diamonds won’t be that visible.

Just make sure the stones you end up buying have good enough brilliance and do not look dark or drab as diamonds with a poor cut do.

Cut shape is a feature you should pay special attention to when selecting diamonds for your earrings.

Like cut, shape becomes more important the bigger and more visible a diamond is. But when it comes to earrings, you also have to make sure that their diamonds’ shape flatters your face.

In general, diamonds with rectangular shapes look best when complementing a broader face. Round and oval shapes are most suitable for thinner faces.

Types of Cuts for Diamond Earrings

Diamond cuts can be loosely classified according to shape, and the most popular shapes are round, oval, rectangular, and triangular. Here are the most common cuts you can see in diamond earrings:

Round Cut

The round cut is the most popular diamond cut. It was created with the goal of maximizing brilliance, and all else being equal, earrings with round diamonds have the potential to deliver the most sparkle.

As already mentioned, the round cut is especially suitable for a thinner face.

Oval and Oval-Looking Cuts

In addition to the oval cut, this group includes the marquise cut, the pear cut, and the heart cut, whose shapes are derived from the classic oval shape by modifying it.

The oval cut is very similar to the round cut, but earrings with oval stones give an additional impression of length.

The marquise cut looks very similar to the oval cut, but two of the ends of the marquise cut are pointed, enhancing the impression of length even more. It is important for these sharp points to be well protected by the earring setting, as they are very vulnerable to chipping.

The pear cut is a hybrid between the oval and the marquise cut – the pear cut has an oval outline, but one of its ends is pointed.

The heart cut looks like a pear cut with a cleft on the rounded side. This cut doesn’t add as much length as the other oval-looking cuts, but if you like the shape, it is a good alternative to the classic round or oval cuts.

Rectangular Cuts

The rectangular cuts include the princess cut, the emerald cut, the Asscher cut, the cushion cut, and the radiant cut. Depending on the length-to-width ratio of the particular cut, it can also look more or less square.

As mentioned earlier, rectangular diamond earrings are more suitable for broader faces.

Like the round cut, the princess cut was designed to exhibit as much brilliance as possible. Sometimes this cut is classified as a “modified brilliant.”

If you are looking for a stone with a lot of sparkle but round or oval shapes don’t suit you, the princess cut is a good choice.

The emerald cut is another good choice if you need a rectangular-shaped stone for your earrings. Keep in mind, though, that the emerald cut is not designed to maximize sparkle, so it will appear less brilliant than a princess-cut stone.

The Asscher cut is the same as the emerald cut, but the Asscher cut has four equal sides and is square.

The cushion cut has a rectangular outline, but its corners are rounded instead of sharp or truncated.

Although this cut can be classified as rectangular, if the length and width of a cushion-cut stone are nearly equal, it can look quite round and might suit a thinner face better than a broader one.

The radiant cut looks very similar to the emerald cut, but unlike it, the radiant cut is meant to enhance brilliance. So if you like the shape of the emerald cut but you are looking for more sparkle, the radiant cut is a good option.

Triangular Cuts

The trilliant cut, also called trillion cut, is the most commonly sold triangular diamond cut. Usually, all three sides of a trilliant-cut diamond are equal in length, but they can also vary in this respect.

This cut can come with either pointed or rounded ends. If you are choosing among trillion-cut diamond earrings with sharp ends, make sure they are well protected by the setting as they are very easy to break if hit harder.