Princess Cut Diamonds

If may surprise you to find out that there is also no industry standard for what constitutes an “Ideal Cut Princess Diamond.” However, there are certain specifications you can look for to help you choose the best, brightest Princess. We’ve put together a table below to help you evaluate cut.

The most lively and beautiful Princess cut diamonds have good play between light and dark when rocked back and forth (diamond experts call this “contrast”). Yes, that’s right, you want some darkness in your stone! The main things are that you want it to be even throughout (not only in the center or in the corners), and not make your overall stone too dark.

Here is an example of an ideally cut princess with even contrast and brilliance, as compared with a stone with uneven contrast and a washed out look.

Here are our recommendations:

The color grade of a diamond refers to how much color (or lack of a color) a diamond shows. The diamond color scale begins at D and ends at Z. D, E, and F colors are “colorless,” like water. G-Z stones show varying degrees of light yellow. Because Princesses are “brilliant” stones, you can mask some color with great sparkle. As a result, near colorless Princesses in the G and H range will often still appear white while providing great value.

Like most diamonds, a smaller Princess cut will hide color better than a larger stone. So, if you want a large, ice white diamond, it is best to stick in the D-G color range. However, many couples find that they prefer an H or even I, depending upon size, as they cannot see much of a difference for the money. The color metal you choose also plays a role – warmer toned metals (like yellow and rose gold) hide diamond color, while white metals (like platinum, palladium, and white gold) will show more diamond color!

Here is an example of an E colored princess cut as compared with an I colored princess:

Here is what we recommend:

The clarity grade of a diamond is how “crystal clear” the gem is. Almost all diamonds have some internal markings, called “inclusions,” that identify them as natural. Most couples we speak with want an “eye clean” stone. In other words, a gem in which the inclusions are not visible to the naked eye. Eye clean stones are the best value! The fewer inclusions a diamond has, the more “flawless” it is. As it is harder to see inclusions on smaller Princess cut diamonds than larger ones, some couples consider lower clarity ratings on smaller diamonds, as they maintain an eye-clean appearance. Larger stones show inclusions more easily, so couples should take care in confirming eye-clean appearance. Luckily, because Princess cuts are “brilliant” stones, their sparkle masks small blemishes fairly well. The clarity chart below provides general guidelines for picking a clarity rating for your diamond, based on inclusion tolerance. Every time a customer purchases an engagement ring from us, we send a gemologist to confirm the diamond is “eye-clean.” We inform the customer if it isn’t.

Here is an example of an SI1 clarity princess cut next to a VVS2 clarity princess:

The following is what we recommend to our couples: