6 Unique Diamond Shapes for Engagement Rings
When it comes to engagement rings, round brilliant cut diamonds have been the most popular choice of diamond shape for decades. However, diamonds are cut into a wide range of different shapes. Some are familiar, though there are many diamond shapes that very few people know about. If you’re looking for a unique diamond shape for your engagement ring, here are 6 beautiful alternatives to the round brilliant cut diamond.
1. Oval Shaped Diamond Engagement Rings
A shape that is almost round, but not quite, oval shaped diamonds have been an increasingly popular diamond shape for engagement ring designs throughout the 2020s. They’re elegant, flattering on the finger, and work beautifully alongside small brilliant cut diamonds if you want to add extra sparkle. While they’ve been popular, each oval diamond has unique variations in the proportions and curving of their specific oval shape, making each one unique. This makes an oval shape diamond a beautiful choice that is both on trend and uniquely personal in one.
2. Asscher Cut Diamond Engagement Rings
A style that has been around long before the round brilliant cut diamond soared into popularity, the Asscher cut diamond makes for a beautifully unique engagement ring. Step cut faceting in these diamonds creates a ‘hall of mirrors’ effect in the stone. Asscher cut diamonds have a beautiful vintage style feel to them, yet can also be designed into modern engagement ring designs like the bezel set signet-inspired ring below.
3. Radiant Cut Diamond Engagement Rings
The radiant cut is so rarely used in white diamond engagement rings, that we’ve only had a few of these made into rings at our studio. Here’s why almost no one knows about them.
Radiant cuts are common for coloured diamonds, because the way the faceting reflects light within the stone enhances the colour within it. For a coloured gemstone, this is an excellent property, enhancing the colour in the stone. However, apply this logic to white diamonds where a lack of colour is the goal, and you can see why radiant cuts pose a problem. Jewellery makers who use anything below the very highest of white colour grades avoid them because they’ll enhance any yellow/brown/grey shades within the stone, even if they’re subtle. With the highest colour grades in a D-F diamond though, like the ones we use in our jewellery studio, radiant cut faceting showcases a colourless diamond beautifully, and creating incredible white light reflections in the stone. To me, it’s one of the very best hidden-in-plain-sight secrets of the fine diamond jewellery world.
4. Emerald Cut Diamond Engagement Rings
The emerald cut diamond is one that brings an elegant old world style to an engagement ring design. They’ve been around for hundreds of years, but soared to popularity in the art deco era, when design was dominated by geometric, streamlined shapes. Due to its smaller number of facets than a brilliant cut - many of which are long and rectangular - be sure to look for excellent clarity and colour to get the most out of this beautiful shape.
5. Cushion Cut Diamond Engagement Rings
Before modern diamond faceting advanced, cushion shaped profiles known as ‘old mine cuts’ were one of the few shapes of diamond around. The modern cushion cut diamond takes this shape and applies modern brilliant cut faceting techniques, to create a sparkly beautiful blend of modern and traditional styles. Cushion cut diamonds work marvellously in a wide variety of engagement ring designs, giving you the flexibility to get creative with your piece. They’re available in square or more elongated cushion shapes, which both make for beautiful engagement rings.
6. Kite Shape Diamond Engagement Rings
I'll finish my list with a diamond shape that’s so unique, it doesn’t even have a consistent agreed upon name among jewellers and gemmologists. This last diamond shape on my list can be called a ‘kite cut diamond’, ‘shield cut diamond’ or ‘pentagon diamond’, depending on who is naming it. Though whatever you decide to call it, it’s a unique and beautiful diamond shape for an engagement ring that almost no one knows about. Each diamond faceted in this way has significant differences in its shape and proportions. So if you’re looking for a kite shape diamond, be prepared to find diamonds that look quite different from one to the next, and enjoy the process of choosing the one you like best.
Design your own unique diamond engagement ring with a jewellery maker
These 6 diamond shapes are a few of many available alternatives to the popular round brilliant cut diamond. If you’re looking for a unique ring, there are many options around to incorporate into your engagement ring design. To begin exploring the shapes you love, book an appointment directly with our jewellery maker to get personal advice and support with designing a beautifully unique piece.
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