Round diamond engagement rings will dazzle you with Fire!!!

If you said that round diamond engagement rings were the most popular design ever, you would not be off by much.
The round or brilliant cut has been around since 1919 when one Marcel Tolkowsky developed it.
The round cut consists of two pyramids placed base to base & has 58 facets with 33 on the crown which is the top half of the diamond & the one usually seen on a diamond ring & 25 on the pavilion. This is the lower half which is normally hidden by the ring setting.

Why did round diamond engagement rings become popular? One of the main reasons is because a lot of rough diamonds tend to be Octahedral in shape. This shape lends itself naturally to be cut in to a round shape.
An added advantage is that 2 round diamonds can be obtained from this shape.
Other diamond shapes which are not octahedral are cut in to fancy shapes.

Since Tolkowsky developed his model, there have been many developments in diamond cutting & both technology and diamond cutting has developed to the point where lasers are now used to cut diamonds and this has resulted in diamonds getting more fiery.
The sad fact remains that even with all this advancement, not less than 50% of a diamond is recovered when its cut. This means if you have a 3 carat rough diamond, you’ll most likely get 1.5 carats of cut diamond.
This is one of the reasons why diamonds tend to be expensive.

So now that you know why it was developed, you might be wondering what advantages you get from the round cut.

• Round diamond rings have the most brilliance or “fire” in them. This is because of the way light is reflected off the diamond and also the way it is refracted within the same stone.

• As we saw above, it’s an economical diamond cut in that it uses as much of the rough diamond as possible.

• It’s a very stable cut due to its round shape such that when it is placed in a diamond setting, it is not prone to damage by knocks as it has no sharp edges.

• It is also quite easy to set in most diamond ring settings.

Round diamond engagement rings are classics. Love them or hate them, they are here to stay!! Are they your flavor?