On the face of it, a radiant cut diamond and an emerald cut diamond have a similar shape, but there are some differences between these. Both have fancy diamond cuts. For your information, any diamond cut that is not the round brilliant is categorized as ‘fancy’. A fancy shaped diamond’s ‘face up’ appearance is what customers first see, and it is the major reason they buy it. Here, we will talk about the most significant elements where the two fancy cut diamonds differ. First things first, let us discuss the basic definitions of these cuts.
What Does An Emerald Diamond Cut Refer To?
As the name implies, an emerald cut diamond resembles the emerald gemstone. The diamond is rectangle in shape featuring trimmed corners, and has linear facets parallel to its widest part called girdle. It is much shallower than the most popular diamond cut, namely the round brilliant.
What Does A Radiant Diamond Cut Refer To?
Some radiant cut stones have a square shape, but most of these are rectangular. Similar to the emerald-shaped stone, there are cut corners in radiant diamonds that make these more durable.
The Differences
The profiles of both fancy cut diamonds seem to be similar, but these are shaped differently, and appear on the wearer’s finger differently. The biggest differences between both include the following.
Cut
The emerald diamond has parallel facets, which make a sparkling internal appearance that resembles steps. It is part of the step cut diamond family.
The radiant diamond cut falls in the ‘mixed cut’ category, meaning it blends the brilliant cut’s and the step cut’s features. It and a step cut diamond have similar outlines, but the pavilion and the table are cut how a brilliant cut diamond is shaped. The pavilion refers to the bottom part of the stone, and the table is the flat facet visible when it is mounted with the face turned up. For an uninitiated, this is known as the diamond sitting ‘face-up’.
Facets
Almost every facet on the emerald-shaped diamond is parallel to both one another and the girdle. Conversely, there are non-rectangular facets on radiant cut diamonds including triangular facets, and usually, these are not set parallelly. It takes a closer look to determine that radiant diamond facets are less linear than the emerald shaped stone’s facets.
Sparkle and Brilliance
The former facets are set in such a way that it enhances the brilliance of the radiant diamond. Conversely, emerald diamonds are not being cut for the brilliance, and their sides are not set in a manner that makes the shine as great as possible. So a radiant diamond is sparklier and has more brilliance compared to the emerald shaped rock.
Clarity
An emerald cut fails to maximize the brilliance to the same degree as the radiant diamond cut does, but the stones have different levels of imperfections. The sparkle masks the flaws in the latter diamond, so you are not all that likely to find visible imperfections. The brilliance of an emerald-shaped diamond with the same GIA clarity grade is relatively lower, so it is likely to have more pronounced internal flaws. It is more transparent compared to diamonds with the other shapes.
| Criteria | Emerald Cut | Radiant Cut |
| Cut | Step cut | Cross between step and brilliant cuts |
| Facets | Arranged parallel | Arranged non-parallel |
| Sparkle | Less | More |
| Brilliance | Less | More |
| Clarity (Same Grade) | Less | More |
Choosing Between The Two
Are you looking for a rectangular diamond without too much sparkle? If you are, then a good option is to go for an emerald-shaped diamond. Just be sure that it has a sufficiently high clarity grade and a fine color grade. You should not go below VS1 clarity, and have to choose at least an ‘H’ color grade. For an uninitiated, the term ‘VS1’ refers to ‘Very Slightly Included’, meaning the stone has no visible inclusions. Of course, there are flaws in the VS1-graded diamond, but this grade means the imperfections are not visible to the naked eye.
In other words, you would need to have a trained eye and know how to use a magnification loupe to spot those slight inclusions of it.
Do you like the emerald diamond’s shape and want some amount of the shine and brilliance of the traditional round brilliant counterpart? If you do, go for the radiant option as it will be more suitable for your taste and preference.
Final Thoughts
If you are buying a diamond for an engagement ring or another jewelry piece, there are many other things to consider. The characteristics and features of the stone are not the only considerations you have to make in that regard.
For instance, if you prefer your piece of jewelry to have an architectural style, then a step cut diamond such as the emerald shaped stone is a better option. You can find an Art Deco radiant diamond ring, but with the step cut stone there are more of these architectural pieces to choose from. No matter which ring you are looking for, RockHer has a wide selection where you can customize your own ring with the help of our experienced jewelers.