Radiant

Radiant

Radiant Cut Diamond

With the variety of diamond cuts available, it can be a challenge to select just the right one. In fact, you might even want to create your own unique style by combining two or more diamond shapes or cuts together in one engagement ring or piece of jewelry for a design that stands out from the others.
Perhaps diamond cutters were thinking along similar lines when they combined cutting styles to create something new and unique – calling the result a radiant cut diamond.
How do you know if the radiant cut diamond is for you? For those who appreciate the outline of an emerald cut diamond, but prefer the sparkle of a brilliant cut diamond, the mixed cutting style of the radiant cut may be a great option.
The radiant cut is a mix of step cut facets on the crown and brilliant cut facets on the pavilion. Its angular shape and brilliant cut facets make it an alternative to either the round brilliant cut or the emerald cut.

Radiant Cut Diamond

A radiant cut diamond has an eight-sided outline, and is typically square or rectangular in shape with cut corners. Now branded as The Original Radiant Cut, this diamond cutting style was patented in the late 1970s by Henry Grossbard, but others have since replicated the style after the patent lapsed.
Unlike the emerald cut which favors diamonds of exceptional clarity, a radiant cut diamond can be more forgiving of inclusions.
Like other modified brilliant cuts, the radiant cut has the remarkable ability to transform a diamond’s color appearance, making the color appear either lighter or darker when viewed from above. Sometimes a colored diamond will be recut into a radiant to improve its face-up color.
As you can see in the image above, this yellow diamond on the left was originally a round brilliant cut diamond weighing over 6 ct, which was graded in the W-X range of the GIA D-to-Z color scale. The stone was recut into the 4.61 ct radiant cut on the right and was subsequently graded Fancy yellow. You can clearly see the difference in color between the two.

Radiant Cut Diamond

Look for a diamond with a centered culet , and parallel sides. Avoid corners that are uneven – either too wide, or too narrow. The proportions of radiant cuts, like other fancy shapes, can vary considerably.
However, GIA research on the cut qualities of round brilliant cut diamonds indicates that there are many different combinations of proportions that can yield a brilliant diamond, and this is certainly true for fancy shapes, too.  As for all diamonds, be sure to see the diamond in person to make sure it’s look appeals to you.