My buying guide of princess cut diamond. For non-professional first time buyers!

[cooperchien]

I just bought my first princess cut diamond.

I hope to share my experience on selecting a princess cut diamond with the other first-time princess cut buyers. Below is a guide that I wish I had when I was purchasing.

1. Please don’t believe that an ideal princess cut must fall into certain cut ranges. You cannot say one table % is better than the other table %. You got to look at the diamond as a whole. The only thing I would recommend is the Crown height %. For me, I like this % to be more than 10.
2. Check Length:Width ratio. What makes princess cut special is that it is a square modified cut. There is a good chance whoever owns that diamond will stare at that diamond for longer than 1 minute. If the diamond shape looks like a rectangle, then it will not look like a princess cut or maybe give people like me a “less perfect” feeling about this princess cut. You should visit a place that can show princess cut diamond and see how much tolerance your eyes have for the L:W ratio. The recommended L:W ratio is from 0.95 to 1.05. However, you must see the diamond yourself to set your own L:W ratio.
3. Pavilion pattern. Here I mean the bottom shape when you flip the princess cut diamond. See the attached picture. This is very important. I am no expert so I can only speak based on my experience. With everything else being equal, you will see a completely different light performance between the bigger pavilion pattern and a smaller pavilion pattern. The effect is different and subject to personal preference. You have to see it to understand. Someone please post a video to explain the difference.
4. Be careful not to get confused with what you read online. There are a lot of materials discuss about round diamond online but much less about princess cut. A lot of knowledge about round diamond cannot apply to princess cut. I was once the fool who was searching for Hearts and arrow in a princess cut before…..
5. ASET Scope and Ideal Scope!!!!!! Don’t buy a princess diamond online without seeing those scope pictures. The online retailer can send you pictures and videos but those are made under the retailer’ light settings. Only the scope pictures can give a more objective view. It is especially useful when you must compare diamonds from 2 different retailers. Of course, always be careful how the retailer take the pictures, too.
So that is it. I am sure if you have made to pricescope, you have read other good notes about purchasing diamonds online. This is my little guide for buying a princess cut diamond. I hope my little contribution can help others like how pricescope helped me.

 

[Lorelei]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experience! I am sure it will be helpful to those who want to purchase a Princess.