Square diamond cuts are a popular alternative to cuts with round, oval, or triangular outlines. Below are the most common square-looking diamond cuts that you could choose from.
Princess Cut
The princess cut is perhaps the most popular diamond cut, after the round brilliant cut.
Princess-cut stones have good brilliance, which helps mask yellow tints or inclusions in the stone (if any) to a certain extent.
These diamonds come in square and rectangular shapes, and the princess cut is an especially good choice for rings.
The most suitable ring setting for this type of cut is the V-prong setting, which wraps the vulnerable corners of the stone and protects them from chipping.
Cushion Cut
The cushion cut can have a square or rectangular outline and is characterized by rounded sides and corners, which give it a pillow-like appearance.
This type of cut has many modifications that are hard to classify, and some of them have a lot of sparkle, while others exhibit less brilliance.
Emerald Cut
Unlike the princess, cushion, or radiant cut, the emerald cut is not a “brilliant cut.”
This means that its facets are not aligned so as to maximize brilliance and sparkle, and as a result, these diamonds have a more mellow appearance than round brilliants, for example.
The emerald cut is a “step cut,” which means that most of the stone’s facets run parallel to the girdle or to each other.
This cut has a rectangular shape, but emerald-cut stones whose length is close to their width can look square.
Asscher Cut
The Asscher cut is the square variation of the Emerald cut.
Except for their outline, both cuts are virtually identical when it comes to facet alignment.
The Asscher cut has lower brilliance than brilliant cuts such as the classic round cut.
This is why yellow tints and flaws within Asscher stones tend to be more visible than in brilliant-cut diamonds of the same clarity and color.
(This is also true for emerald-cut diamonds.)
Radiant Cut
The radiant cut has a shape that is very similar to that of the emerald cut: Both have rectangular outlines with cut corners.
Just like other cuts on this list, a radiant cut can be square or have a length-to-width ratio greater than one.
Unlike the emerald cut, the radiant cut is not a pure “step cut” but rather a “mixed cut.”
This means that it has features that are characteristic of both step and brilliant cuts.
In the case of the radiant cut, the facets of its table and pavilion are shaped and aligned so as to enhance brilliance, while the stone’s overall outline resembles that of a step cut.
Baguette Cut
The baguette cut has a rectangular shape, and when its length-to-width ratio is close to one, it can look more or less square.
Unlike emerald or Asscher cuts, the baguette cut doesn’t have truncated corners.
This is a typical step cut, and like the emerald cut, the baguette cut is not as brilliant and sparkly as round or princess diamonds, for example.
As a result, flaws and tints in baguette stones tend to be easily visible.
These diamonds are usually set as side stones in jewelry pieces and more rarely as center diamonds.
Where to Buy Diamond Jewelry?
We recommend James Allen (read review) because you can see a 360-degree video for any diamond before buying it.
Blue Nile is another reputable diamond retailer we recommend.
