You might have the design all picked out and ready. But how should the diamond look? You might want to skip the regular old round diamond in favour of doing something a little more unique. But don’t go picking a new shape just for the sake of standing out. You should know a few things about the all-popular round-cut diamond engagement rings.
When it comes down to the shape of the diamonds in wedding rings, a circle cut is by far the most popular and for a good reason! Round diamond rings have the greatest potential for customizability and often the brightest shine out of all other cuts.
But at the same time, round-cut diamond engagement rings remove most material from the gemstone, especially in the coveted brilliant cut. This raises the cutting cost dramatically. Is it really worth it to cut your gem into a circle? Engagement rings might look too generic for your taste if it’s cut is in a circle. Wedding rings would look atrocious too.
Malleable has an article that will run you through the pros and cons of buying or making engagement rings. Round diamond shapes of all kinds in our catalogue, and here, we will look at how they affect the quality of your future engagement rings.
Why are round cut diamond rings the best?
Circle cut engagement rings have been a staple in marriage iconography for the past one hundred years. The first thing that likely pops in your head when you think about wedding rings is the clear cut round rings with their all too familiar round cut diamonds.
This shape is so popular because of the centuries of practice that went into cutting gemstones, long before the diamond engagement ring became a staple in courtship. No gem shape shines entirely as a diamond cut into a circle. Engagement rings have been adorned with these lively cuts because of the fire that burns inside them whenever you hold the diamond up to the light. Wedding rings circle this mark too.
But two specific qualities stand out when a diamond is cut into a circle. Circle wedding rings with this particular shape are incredibly versatile when it comes to their customizability. What’s more is that the shape, especially with the brilliant cut, can easily hide any imperfections that might show up in your diamond.
Customizability
The round cut diamond is a staple when it comes to circle engagement rings. The generic, exposed stone look is but one of many ways for you to use the gem. The round shape is far easier to manipulate in jewelry without having to encapsulate it in the ring altogether.
The round cut can stand out whether you decide to have as much or as little of it covered in gold. The design was specially developed to refract as much light as possible, regardless of what angle you look at it.
It hides inclusions
Out of the many different and complex cuts you can use for your wedding ring. The round, brilliant cut is undoubtedly the best for dealing with imperfections. Cutting a diamond into a round shape takes the largest amount of raw material away than with almost any other shape. Because of that, a jeweller can focus on removing any inclusions or knots they notice during the cutting process.
It might be called a round cut, but this shape is surprisingly difficult to get right; since the diamond is being cut into a shape that will perfectly refract light into a glittering fire. The end result will always glisten, unlike any other shape, regardless of any inclusions that might still be around in the end.
The cons of round cut engagement rings
Popularity
We mentioned the popularity of this cut already. Depending on your tastes, this could be a downside for you. If you’re looking for an absolutely original design that symbolizes the union between you and your partner, Malleable can definitely help you with that. But round cut diamond engagement rings might not be the best choice if that is the direction you are going for. Again, it all comes down to your personal tastes.
Expensive
The other problem with the popularity of this cut is that it is also incredibly expensive. The high market demand for these diamond cuts, paired with the number of resources it takes to fashion diamonds this way, makes a round cut far more expensive.
There are less expensive variants of the round cut. The brilliant cut engagement rings are the most expensive since the engagement rings round cut removes the most gemstone material. If you are willing to trade some of the clarity in exchange for a lower price tag, other circle cuts like the Rose cut might suit your tastes.
The four Cs in diamond wedding rings
If you regularly shop for gems, you might have heard of this term. Luckily, it’s not hard to get your head round. Engagement ring manufacturers use it all the time, so it’s best to learn it now. In layman’s terms, the 4 Cs refer to the criteria that are used to appraise a diamond. Malleable looks at each of the 4 Cs in turn when we help you craft the latest addition to your jewelry box.
These criteria are; the number of impurities in your diamond or its Clarity, The Colour of the diamond; The Carat weight; And the way you want your stone Cut. If you have any trouble picking your jewels, remember that Malleable is available to answer your questions online.
Let’s look at how engagement rings round diamond can have an effect on the other three Cs.
Cut
Let us first define what is arguably one of the most important parts of designing any piece of jewelry. When you have your diamond cut, you are not just changing the shape or getting rid of any impurities. Cutting a diamond will fundamentally change the way light passes through it.
A diamond’s “fire” is what gives it life. When white light hits a properly cut gem, it will disperse and reflect the light into a wide range of colours. A common misconception is that the colour of the gemstone can change the diamond’s fire, but this is simply untrue.
When you look at a round cut diamond, brilliant or otherwise, the shape can have numerous effects on the colour, clarity and even its value per carat.
Carat
You’ve probably heard of Carat weight when discussing a diamond’s value. Carat weight can be a bit misleading, however, since a high carat diamond does not necessarily mean a larger or more expensive stone.
In fact, small impurities in the diamond can shift the weight of the gemstone. A high Carat gem can still be very impure and thus negatively impact the value. This is where cutting comes in.
You can cut out the impurities in a diamond and increase its value per carat. Since a brilliant round cut diamond removes so much material, you can greatly increase the value and decrease the number of inclusions in a gem.
Carat is by no means the deciding factor in a diamond, but it is a nice way to compare stones when you are satisfied with the other three criteria on this list. Rather go for a lower carat weight if you are working on a tight budget.
Clarity
It is nearly impossible to find a diamond without inclusions in it. An inclusion is a small imperfection that is rarely visible to the naked eye. Inclusions are naturally formed and aren’t a result of poor cutting. In fact, most inclusions can be cut out of a diamond to help raise its purity by some degree.
Clarity is a significant contributor to the value of a diamond, thanks to cutting. It is also the factor that you can control the most. But just because your diamond has a few inclusions in it doesn’t mean you have to cut them all out.
An inclusion can be nearly undetectable if you look at it from the right angle. A major plus of round cut diamonds is that you have a lot of options when it comes to customizing them. You can place it in a number of different ways that can mask any inclusions that are left behind.
Malleable’s jewelry designers can help you set your diamond in such a way that any imperfections will be expertly hidden. You can even work an inclusion into your round engagement ring’s design to help mask it.
Colour
Diamonds range from clear to light yellow and are measured on a letter scale from D to Z. The most coveted diamonds are obviously the clearer ones that scale as close to D as possible.
Now there isn’t a lot that cutting can do to affect the colour of a diamond besides removing knots. Knots are a type of inclusion that is usually a stark change in colour from the rest of the gem.
But the inverse is also true. A gem’s colour doesn’t have a powerful effect on the fire of your gem. In fact, you can greatly increase the fire of any shade of diamond through cutting.
You can even get away with yellower diamonds depending on your chosen metal. Clearer diamonds tend to reflect the metal that they are set in, while a more reflective metal, like platinum, has a similar effect.
If you choose to go with a golden wedding band, you can place a more yellow diamond in the metal without it standing out. Platinum, on the other hand, can also reflect the colour of your gem. If you use a yellow diamond in a platinum ring, the colour will stand out far more.
Ethically sourced round wedding rings
Malleable tries our best to reuse and recycle as much of the materials we source to make your earrings. Most of our materials are sourced from different jewelry practices, but we also buy gold from customers to a certain extent.
We advocate for upcycling your old pieces of jewelry. If you have heirloom round diamond engagement rings, why not redesign them instead of selling them to fund a new ring?
Malleable makes use of a certified Fair Trade network to source conflict-free jewelry when necessary. We ensure our materials come from legal and reputable mines that treat their workers and the environment well.
Where do the materials come from?
In the rare cases where we need to buy newly mined diamonds, we use mines and suppliers certified by the Kimberley Process.
The Kimberley process
Simply put: the Kimberley process is a certification scheme that enforces fair trade regulations for rough diamonds. Its main goal is to protect facets of the legitimate diamond trade and prevent the sale of what are called “conflict diamonds.”
Conflict diamonds are one way in which conflict is financed, especially in poorer countries. These “blood diamonds” are mainly used to undermine a government’s spending power and ensure a level of untraceable spending among terrorist groups.
Newly mined diamonds are harder to keep track of. The Kimberley Process helps by cutting this problem off at the vein. It ensures that the mines are not involved in any facet of the conflict. It does this through tests and by researching mines before certifying them as conflict-free.
The Kimberley Process isn’t international since it has no permanent offices. Rather, it is run by a conglomerate of industries and participating countries. Most of its implemented strategies are based on the national legislation of the host country.
How does this affect the final product?
We at Malleable pride ourselves on delivering a quality product regardless of the materials we need to work with our clients. We strive toward your satisfaction, which is why the initial planning phase of your new round diamond earrings is so important. Our goal is to deliver a quality product that exceeds expectations. So you can rest assured that our recycled diamonds will shine brightly.
Finally
If you are looking for a new set of round diamond rings for weddings, engagements, or just to treat yourself, Malleable has what you need. There’s no reason to have your jewelry come from unethical sources. Malleable guarantees that no miners were mistreated in the sourcing and production of your jewelry wherever we can help it and that the environment is our top concern when we set to work crafting your diamond ring.