Your Celtic engagement ring - Tips for choosing the stones style
Part of the fun of getting married is choosing an engagement ring. Whether you are the groom-to-be nervously hoping she will like the ring you are considering, or the ecstatic bride shopping with her love for the ring of her dreams, you have so many options to choose from. When selecting the ring to adorn a finger forever, it is important to know about the types of stones you may come across in your search. Whether you are considering the romantically symbolic Claddagh engagement rings, or a more traditional Celtic engagement ring, consider your options carefully.
A radiant cut diamond is ideal for a person who likes the shape of the emerald cut but wants something with a little more sparkle. It has the shape and classic look of the emerald cut, but contains much greater brilliance, lending to it a similar style to that of a round diamond. A Crisscut is a blend between these two styles: a little more understated than the radiant but more dynamic than an emerald cut. Radiant cut diamonds are a stunning choice to feature in Irish engagement rings.
A princess cut, which is a square-shaped brilliant cut, is an ideal shape for any setting in which you want the stone to be flush with its mounting. The Quadrillion was the first trademarked princess cut diamond cut to unique specifications to ensure “maximum brilliance and fire.”
A trilliant cut is a popular shape that often gets used as a center or side stone, and it is often a very thin cut, giving it a large appearance for how much it actually weighs. Multiple extra facets and very precise cutting are known for producing a high degree of brilliance. When placed on either side of another diamond, trilliants produce a much larger diamond appearance overall.
Just because some diamond cuts have been around longer than others does not mean that they still shouldn’t be considered to adorn Celtic engagement rings. Diamond cutters did not actually fine tune the art of cutting a diamond until the end of the fifteenth century, and one of the earliest known cuts was called the table cut. A table cut was made by placing the point of a diamond crystal against a turning wheel that held another diamond, and this helped grind the point down to create a squarish flat surface much like a tabletop. Flat cuts on the tops of diamonds today are still called table facets.
The rose cut is a sixteenth century cut, normally with a flat base and facets radiating out from the center in multiples of six, creating the stunning appearance of an opening rosebud. The rose cut can be found in round, pear and oval shapes.
The old-mine cut is an ancestor to the modern day round cut. This cut of diamond has a squarish or “cushion” shape (like a rounded square), and proportions follow the diamond crystal, so the crown ends up being higher and the pavilion (bottom) is deeper than in modern stones. These stones may lack the brilliance and luster of modern stones, but they often demonstrate incredible fire.
A precursor to the modern American round brilliant cut was the old-European cut. This cut is similar to the old-mine cut but tends to have a more round versus square shape. The crown of the diamond is higher than in modern cuts but not as high as in the old-mine cut.
Two older cuts that have recently been enjoying a revival in popularity are the cushion cut and the Asscher cut. The cushion cut has a small table, a high crown and resembles the old-mine cut but tends to be more elongated. The Asscher cut is incredibly similar to an emerald cut diamond, having many of the same characteristics, like a very high crown, a deep pavilion and very angled corners.
No matter which cut you end up choosing to adorn your engagement ring, having done your background research will enable you to make an informed decision you can be pleased with for years to come.
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