Princess Cut Engagement Rings

Princess cut engagement rings are both classic and modern at the same time. Although the princess cut itself is relatively new it's become really popular. People just like the crisp straight lines and contemporary feel of a princess cut diamond.

What makes the princess cut special, compared to all the other square or rectangular diamond shapes, is the cut itself which is faceted similarly to a round brilliant.

What does that mean for you and me? It's got the most Bling! of all the square cut diamond shapes—more sparkle, more brilliance, and more shine.

Princess Cut Diamonds

Standard proportions for length and width are 1 to 1 or 1 to 1.05 for the diamond to appear square. Anything above 1.05 and you will end up with a stone that looks more rectangular. 

Engaging Facts: Because of the shape and faceting in a princess cut (and to get all the Bling! that we all want and crave), the stone is bottom heavy. See how much of the stone lies below the girdle in the diagram above?

It needs that depth to bounce light and create all that fiery brilliance and proportionately holds a lot of the diamond's carat weight. In other words more of the diamond's weight runs from top to bottom than from side to side so...
A 1 carat princess cut will look smaller on the finger than (for example) a round brilliant because all that carat weight is in the part of the stone that you don't see when it's set in an engagement ring.

The good news is that a princess cut diamond will cost less per carat than that same round brilliant of the same quality. Why? Because they get more princess cut diamonds out of the rough stone.

There's less wastage when they chisel away at the larger rough diamond because they don't need to shave off the corners in order to turn it into a round diamond or another shape. It's kind of like using cookie cutters on a rolled out piece of dough. Think how many more square cookies you can get than round ones out of the same piece of dough.

Princess Cut Engagement Rings: A Perfect Setting

Because of it's clean straight lines and square shape, the setting of a princess cut engagement ring needs to protect the four corners of the stone otherwise you'll end up with a chipped or damaged diamond. So keep that in mind when deciding on your engagement ring setting.

Bezel settings, like the one at left from James Allen, offer the most protection and add to the contemporary look of the stone.

Engaging Tip:
If you go with a bezel setting in white gold or platinum it makes a diamond look bigger than it really is because the metal color blends in with the stone.

Tension settings also work really well with princess cut diamonds, but here again, it's important to make sure the corners of the stone are well protected.

If you go with a prong setting make sure that the prong protects as much of the pointed corners as possible.

Princess cut diamonds also really lend themselves well to channel settings, wedding bands and eternity rings because the square shape allows one stone to be set right against the other without any gaps in between.

Princess Cut Engagement Rings: Expert Tips

Because of the complicated faceting in a princess cut, it hides color and clarity imperfections better than a lot of other shapes. So you can save money on the color and clarity of the stone and put it towards the quality of the cut and carat size.

The cut a Princess shape diamond is very important because, as we mentioned above, the carat weight runs from top to bottom instead of side to side, so what you want to look for is an AGS grade of Very Good or higher (you'll find that on the diamond's grading report).

Again, princess cut engagement rings can cost less because a diamond cutter usually doesn't need to shave off as much diamond weight from the rough diamond. So if size matters to you, you can get more carats for the buck. Just make sure you have a quality cut so all that weight doesn't end up on the underside of the stone.

With so many beautiful engagement rings out there, don't sacrifice your princess cut diamond for a setting you love. If the setting doesn't protect the corners of the stone, in a few years time, after several trips to the jewelers for repairs on chips and scratches, you'll wish you had taken our advice.

Best type of finger for princess cut engagement rings? Long and slender, since the square shape tends to shorten the finger.