What to Consider When Choosing an Emerald Cut Diamond

Emerald cut diamonds are a classy, beautiful and timeless cut. Despite this diamond cut having a lack of sparkle compared with round cut diamonds, it more than makes up for it with its long facets and rectangular shape, giving it strong flashes of light.

The emerald cut has been used as a diamond cut for over half a millennia and became popular during the Art Deco period. Emerald diamonds are also referred to as step cut diamonds. This is due to the diamond pattern resembling a row of steps when viewing the stone from above.

When it comes to how to choose an emerald cut diamond, we’ve put together some things to consider when choosing emerald diamond jewellery.

What Does an Emerald Cut Diamond Look Like?

Looking at the perfect emerald diamond, the cut has to be of the highest quality, meaning that anything but an Excellent or Very Good is absolutely essential. Alongside that, the diamond cut needs high colour and clarity, particularly if you are looking to buy an emerald engagement ring for your partner.

How Many Facets are in a Emerald Cut Diamond? 

Emerald diamonds typically have 57 facets. The bulk of the facets come from the crown (25 facets) and pavilion (24 facets), with the girdle having the least amount of facets with eight, thus creating its signature rectangular shape.

Always Consider the 4C’s (Cut, Clarity, Colour and Carat) 

Before buying any piece of emerald cut diamond jewellery, it’s worth getting up-to-speed with the 4Cs (Cut, Clarity, Carat and Colour). Understanding this will make the buying process for your emerald ring or pendant easier.

Cut refers to the diamond’s proportions and symmetry. With an emerald diamond, it’s absolutely crucial that the stone’s symmetry matches up so that you don’t end up with a wonky-looking stone. Getting the girdle thickness in the medium-to-slightly thick area means that it’s less likely that the stone won’t be chipped or cracked. 

With the colour of the emerald diamond, it needs to be relatively high, with anything around a colour grade of D-F is ideal. This is the same outcome with the clarity, although with the carat weight, you need to make sure that you have a diamond with the right proportions, symmetry and polish. This ensures that you find an emerald cut piece of jewellery within your ideal carat weight range.

Solitaire and Halo Settings Work Very Well with Emerald Cut Diamonds

Solitaire and halo are two settings that work very well with emerald cut diamonds. 

Halos are a setting that features a row of small diamonds around the centre stone. For an emerald diamond, a halo setting can add some additional sparkle that the diamond lacks, while making the stone appear bigger than it already is. 

Whereas, with a solitaire setting, it enables a lot of light to hit the stone, thus amplifying the ‘hall of mirrors’ effect. This is common in a perfectly-proportioned emerald cut diamond, thus allowing the unique nature of this shape to shine.

How to Choose a Piece of Emerald Cut Diamond Jewellery from Shining Diamonds

Planning to propose to your partner soon or buying a present for your friend or family member’s birthday? A piece of emerald cut diamond jewellery is a classic and timeless choice, particularly if you want a larger diamond at a lower price.

Struggling to find a piece of emerald cut diamond jewellery? Our experts can answer your emerald cut diamond-related questions so you have a piece that you, your partner or friend will love.
Keen to buy a piece of emerald cut diamond jewellery for yourself or someone else? You can book an appointment at our London Hatton Garden or Brighton The Lanes showroom and our staff can help you find the perfect emerald diamond piece.