A Complete 2025 Guide: Types of Diamond Cuts for Your Engagement Ring

Diamonds are the perfect symbol for eternity and lifelong bonds. Before you start looking for lab-grown or natural diamonds Vancouver, you should know about the importance of cut diamond types to make the perfect purchase!

Don't worry! If you are looking for the answer to questions like "What are the types of diamond cuts?", "What type of diamond cut is the best?", or "What type of diamond cut is most expensive?", then you're at the right place! We'll answer all of the questions one by one to help you make an informed and smart purchase of affordable lab diamond jewelry Vancouver.

What is a Diamond Cut?

The diamond cut refers to how well a light interacts with the facets of the diamond. It is one of the 4Cs of diamond: color, clarity, carat, and cut. You can determine the quality of the diamond by understanding the diamond cut types. When we talk about the brilliance of a natural or lab grown diamonds Vancouver, it is usually determined by the cut. In the later sections, we'll explore all types of diamond cuts.

How is it different from Diamond Shape?

The diamond shape refers to the geometric appearance of a diamond. It should not be confused with the diamond shape. There are two types of diamond shapes: traditional round diamond and fancy diamond shape. Every diamond that is not a round brilliant diamond is known as a fancy shape diamond or a fancy cut diamond. This includes shapes such as emerald cut diamond, princess cut diamond, cushion cut diamond,  asscher cut diamond, marquise cut diamond, radiant cut diamond, pear shape diamond, oval diamond shape, and more.

Why is Diamond Cut Important?

The diamond’s sparkle is directly dependent on the diamond's cut. An excellent diamond cut will have the best scintillation, fire, and brightness. If the diamond's cut is poor, then it will be much duller and will emit less light. This is why it's very important to understand the importance of a diamond cut, before you shop for diamond jewelry!

The Diamond Cut Grading System

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the most trusted gemological institution in the world, uses 5 grades to determine the cut quality of all the different diamond cuts. This includes:

Excellent

The excellent cut grade means that the diamond has the highest level of brilliance and fire. The diamond will emit the most incredible sparkle after light is reflected through the table.

Very Good

The diamonds of very good cut grade will appear to be the same as excellent cut grade diamonds to the naked eye. These diamonds offer similar brilliance and fire, and also emit the majority of the light that is reflected back through the table. 

Good

Good cut diamonds reflect lesser light compared to the other two cut grades, but you will be able to see sparkle and brilliance with the naked eye. These are available at a much affordable price range. 

Fair

Fair cut grade diamonds have little brilliance within them. This is more suited for smaller carats or side stones within a piece of jewelry.

Poor

Poor cut diamonds have no brilliance, scintillation, or fire. Light escapes easily through the bottom and sides of the diamond.

What are the Different Types of Diamond Cuts?

So, how many types of diamond cuts are there? The following are the different types of diamond cuts:

Round Brilliant Cut

Round brilliant cut diamonds are the most popular diamond, with around 57 to 58 facets. They have the most brilliance, fire, and scintillation. If you were looking for which diamond cuts are more expensive, then the round cut diamonds would be the answer.

Fancy Cut

The cuts that are not round are known as fancy cut diamonds. These are the different types of cuts in diamond within fancy cuts:

Modified Brilliant Cuts

Diamond cuts that are altered from the traditional round shapes are known as modified brilliant cut diamonds. This includes shapes like pear cut diamonds, heart cut diamonds, oval cut diamonds, cushion cut diamonds, and marquise cut diamonds.

Step Cuts

The diamond shapes that have rectangular facets are known as step cut diamonds. This includes diamond asscher and emerald shape diamonds. These diamonds have less fire and brilliance compared to brilliant cuts.

Vintage Cuts

Before modern technology, the process of diamond cutting was much slower, and the diamonds also had much less sparkle compared to modern diamonds. This is because the cutter removed much less material from the original rough diamond. This is why old mine cut diamonds and old European cut diamonds had much larger facets, despite the less sparkle.

Rose Cuts

Rose cut diamond shapes have a relatively flat lower half when compared with brilliant or step cut diamonds. These diamond cuts are low profile and do not contain the same sparkle as other cuts. You may find rose cut diamonds in any shape, but the most common one is round cut diamonds.

Factors that Determine Diamond Cut Quality

The cut quality of a diamond is dependent on several factors. No matter how many different diamond cuts there are, these factors will be essential to judge the diamond cut's quality. The factors include:

Proportion

A diamond's proportion includes the table, depth, and width of the overall cut. Proportions can help diamond cutters understand how well the diamond would be able to produce a sparkle. 

Symmetry

Symmetry of a diamond includes the external shape of the diamond, along with the even arrangement of facets. The windows, steps, and mirrors of the diamond are all crucial parts of assessing the diamond's symmetry.

Polish

The polish refers to the condition of the external surface of the diamond after the treatment and the polishing process. Features like nicks or pits are considered during the evaluation. 

Brilliance

The brightness of the diamond after light reflects on the surface is known as the brilliance of the diamond cut. It is dependent on factors like the tilt and angle of the diamond's facets.

Fire

The fire of the diamond's cut refers to the dispersion of the white light into different colors of the rainbow. Diamonds of excellent grades can display a variety of colors when compared with poorly cut diamonds.

Scintillation

The scintillation of the diamond refers to the sparkle of a diamond when light moves through the diamond. An excellent cut diamond would have sparkles that appear on the surface as soon as light hits the diamond. You must be wondering, what type of diamond cut sparkles the most? It's the round-cut cut brilliant diamond!

Conclusion

A diamond cut grade helps you to understand the quality of a diamond. Diamond cut and diamond shape are often confused with each other, but both are different concepts. Before you go out to shop for diamond jewelry, it is important to understand the difference between the different types of diamond cuts.