In The Mood for Something Fancy?
Did you know that all diamond shapes other than round are referred to as fancy?
Here we will break down the top 5 things you should know about fancy cut diamonds.
Fancy Cut diamonds can be split into 3 main groups
Modified brilliants:
Oval, pear, heart, marquise and trilliant cuts.
Step cuts:
Asscher and the emerald cut.
Mixed Cuts:
Princess and radiant cuts. These fancy shapes are hybrids of a modified brilliant and a step cut.
Fancy Cut Diamonds are Fashionable
While round brilliant cut diamonds will always be in demand, fancy cut diamonds rely more on fashionable trends. The trends of the 80’s favoured big hair, bold, geometric shapes and bright colours. This caused a surge in popularity for princess cut diamonds. Now more than ever with Instagram and Facebook, fancy cut diamonds are trending. With their unique qualities and special appearances, engagement rings set with fancy shaped diamonds are fast becoming a favourite among celebrities.
Fancy cut diamonds don’t score a cut grade
Fancy cut diamonds can have any finished shape, save for round. Fancy shape stones do however have their own grading criteria, in particular with relation to proportion and symmetry. At present fancy shape diamonds do not score a cut grade on diamond grading reports. Research is currently ongoing at the GIA to design and implement a system to fairly represent a cut grade for fancy cut diamonds on a grading report.
Fancy cut and fancy coloured diamonds are not the same
Fancy when not referring to cut is often used to refer to the strength of colour of a diamond. Fancy coloured diamonds are often cut in fancy shapes however only one in 10,000 diamonds has a fancy colour. This means that fancy colours are quite a bit more fancy than fancy cut diamonds.
Some fancy cuts require extra care
Fancy cuts that have sharp points like the princess, pear and marquise cut need specially crafted claws to protect their points. Most often, V-claws are used to hold the pointed end of the diamond. Some settings and metals are better for certain fancy cut diamonds so it is always wise to take this into consideration before purchasing your dream diamond.
