The Princess Cut Diamond: Buying and Design Guide NZ

The Princess Cut diamond engagement ring used to be a popular cut. Now a unique stone choice that oozes class. It has a tonne of sparkle and has been adorned by a number of celebrities like Hillary Duff and Meghan Markle. And as one of New Zealand’s largest bespoke jewellers, we have designed and created our fair share of Princess Cut diamonds.

In this article, we’ll walk through the bespoke designs we’ve done for our clients, including how to get the best Princess Cut diamond that the eye can see. And while there are a few reasons not to buy a Princess cut engagement ring; we explain why we still love them.

Why You Should Buy A Princess Cut Diamond Engagement Ring

They have exceptional brilliance and fire

Brilliance is the amount of white light reflected from a diamond. This is what gives a diamond its ice-clean look and sparkle. A diamond’s fire is when white light disperses into a rainbow of colours.

Princess Cut Diamonds have incredible brilliance and fire. This is especially so when the Princess Cut diamond is a solitaire.

When choosing a Princess Cut diamond, we recommend you pay attention to its cut over anything else. Even at smaller carat sizes, a Princess Cut diamond can look relatively bigger, especially when compared to emeralds because of its sparkle.

Princess Cut Diamonds are an alternative to Round Cut Diamonds

Round Cut diamonds are the most popular diamond shape. But this can be a bad thing as you may end up with a similar engagement ring as one of your friends!

The Princess Cut is a less popular but not radical diamond shape. They are timeless and can make the perfect gemstone for a dainty engagement ring.

Princess Cut engagement rings can be kept simple as a solitaire or be used with accent stones to create something more intricate. You can also dress it up or down with your wedding ring and eternity ring.

Princess Cuts are also similarly priced to Round Cuts. And when you choose lab grown diamonds, they are around 40% cheaper than their mined alternatives!

Princess Cuts can appear larger than Round Cuts because of their shape

Even at equivalent carat sizes, the Princess Cut will appear slightly larger than a Round Diamond. This is due to the right angles of the diamond, meaning it will appear larger on hand.

If you want to maximise the appearance of size with a Princess Cut, we recommend you consider a knife edge band to give the diamond elevation and the ability to reflect more light.

They can hide inclusions well

Because Princess Cuts have high brilliance, they can hide inclusions well. Inclusions are blemishes or imperfections that develop during the diamond’s formation — for both mined and lab grown diamonds.

The main thing is to ensure that you find a Princess Cut diamond that is eye clean. This means that you can’t see any inclusions with the naked eye.

1.0ct G SI3 Princess Cut Diamond – inclusions around the centre and edges of the stone.

At Four Words, we only use the top 2% of diamonds. This means that your diamond will always be eye clean. We also ensure that your diamond engagement ring is independently certified by the International Gemmological Institute in Antwerp, Belgium; and independently valued for insurance.

Why You Should NOT Buy A Princess Cut Diamond Engagement Ring

Princess Cut Diamonds can be prone to chipping

If you end up with a design where the corners of the diamond are not protected with bezels, then your diamond can be prone to chipping. While it is true that diamonds are the hardest material on Earth, they aren’t invincible.

At Four Words, we ensure that all our Princess Cut designs have their corners properly protected, all while making your design ideas a reality.

They show their colour more than Round Cuts

While Princess Cuts have a high level of brilliance, they are still prone to appearing yellow-brown if you don’t pay attention to colour.

If you are after an ice-cool finish with maximum white sparkle, we recommend working from the colour G upwards.

On the colour scale, G appears white to the naked eye. On the colour scale, it is very difficult to tell the difference between G and D-E-F with the naked eye. Again, at Four Words, we select the best diamonds that the eye can see.

What You Need To Know About Princess Cut Diamond Engagement Rings

Cut

Princess Cut diamonds do not have an official cut grade (FYI only Round cut diamonds do). For this reason, it is important to view your diamond before selecting it.

When you work with Four Words, we show you the diamonds before purchasing it to ensure that you are happy with it. If you are not happy with it, we will select another one.

Colour

Princess Cut Diamonds do not hide colour as well as Round Cuts. If you want an eye clean white diamond, we recommend a G diamond.

If you are after a coloured stone in either diamond or another gemstone, we highly recommend working with a jeweller to ensure you get exactly what you are looking for.

Clarity

Princess Cut diamonds can hide inclusions well. We recommend choosing a diamond that is at least VS2. Anything below this standard will mean you may see inclusions with the naked eye.

Carat

As with most diamonds, the higher in carat size that you go, the more attention you need to pay to colour and clarity. As we go to larger cuts — like two or three carat diamonds, we recommend going up a colour grade.

How We Incorporate Princess Cut Diamonds Into Our Designs

Your Band Colour Impacts Solitaire Princess Cut Diamond Engagement Rings

Whether it's white gold, rose gold or yellow gold, it will dictate the whole aesthetic of your engagement ring, especially if you have designed a Princess Cut solitaire (diamond on its own).

If you are looking for an icy finish, we recommend using platinum over white gold. White gold requires re-plating every two or three years. Platinum on the other hand is a lot more durable.

If are looking for a warmer finish, then yellow gold or rose gold would be a great option. At Four Words, we recommend using 14K gold. This ensures that it is hard enough for general and daily wear.

At Four Words, we typically use recycled hypoallergenic gold and platinum. This ensures that your skin is not irritated by our jewellery.

Work with an expert designer if you are planning on more stones

Princess Cuts are best known for sitting alone as solitaires. In saying that, many of our clients have decided to add accent stones.

If you are going for a bulkier finish, this is a great idea, however, if you are looking for something more dainty, it can be a bit more challenging.

Working with a designer is always important, but even more so when it comes to clusters and the Princess Cut.

Go easy on the halo (hidden halos are fine)

Princess Cuts are known for their sharp lines and right-angle corners. These typically need to be protected by bezels. Adding a halo can overpower your diamond and diminish the shine of your Princess Cut diamond.

Instead, we recommend you opt for a hidden halo option if you really want one.

Lay on the pavé

Pavé are small diamonds that run along the band. Below is an example of how you can add more sparkle to an already sparkly diamond.

FAQs

Where did the Princess Cut come from?

The Princess Cut was first created in 1981 by Betzalei Ambar and Israel Itskowitz. It evolved from the Table Cut in the 14th Century and then the French Cut. The evolution comes from better cutting technology.

What is a good quality Princess Cut Diamond?

At Four Words, we recommend the following: Carat size: 1.0, Clarity: VS2, Colour: G. There is no industry-agreed grade cut for a Princess Cut.

We recommend you first view your Princess Cut before making your final purchase.

Are Princess Cut diamonds expensive?

Mined Princess Cut diamonds are slightly cheaper than their Round Cut counterparts. When it comes to lab-grown, Princess and Round Cuts costs are approximately the same. Lab grown diamonds are exactly the same as mined diamonds but are approximately 40% cheaper.

Do Princess Cut diamonds look bigger?

Princess Cut diamonds are actually smaller than Round cut diamonds at equivalent sizes. However, because of their sharp lines and right angles, they can be perceived to be bigger.

Are Princess Cut diamonds popular?

In New Zealand, round cuts are the most popular followed by ovals. At Four Words, we do design a few Princess Cuts but they are not as popular as they once were.

What is the best Princess Cut setting?

The best setting for a Princess Cut is a matter of taste. At Four Words, we love the Princess Cut as a solitaire.

Work With Jewellery Experts

Princess Cuts can be a great choice if you are looking for a more elegant or vintage style of cut. Traditional jewellery stores are typically motivated to sell based on sales targets and get commissions. They don’t have your best interests top of mind. With Four Words, you don’t need to compromise on design because of the risks associated with a poor quality diamond.

We only deal with the top 2% of stones and are rigorous in ensuring that you get the best diamond that you can possibly see.

And this is how Four Words is different. We don’t pay our salespeople and designers based on commission. We pay them upfront to ensure that they have your interests top of mind.

If you want to get started on designing your engagement ring, give us a message or learn more about designing an engagement. Also, at Four Words we only use lab-grown diamonds (which are optically, atomically and physically exactly the same) and offset five times the amount of carbon that we produce — which is much less than the mined diamond industry.