subject: My Diamond Is Bigger Than What It Was [print this page] My Diamond Is Bigger Than What It Was My Diamond Is Bigger Than What It Was
A question often asked, especially where a solitaire style of diamond engagement ring is required is that of the size of the center stone within a predetermined budget of course.
The first thing that the eye picks up is that of sparkle so if one, for the sake of argument, have a cluster of diamonds set one next to the other, they will look like one and give the impression of a large single stone even though the cluster may be constituted of 10 or more smaller diamonds.
If this is important to the customer then any size of centre diamond can be selected and mounted in a ring surrounded with small diamonds giving the impression of a single large diamond within a solitaire type of setting.
There are also other means of enhancing the individual size of the main diamond, the most important of which is selecting a well proportioned diamond to begin with, indeed heavily cut to weight diamonds, at identical weight, can look 20% smaller than a very well proportioned equally well cut example, cut to a different set of proportions.
Another way is in the setting itself, a diamond set within claws will look smaller than if it was mounted in a 'rubover' type of setting, surrounded, therefore, with gold, particularly important if white gold is used.
This brings me to the actual shape of the diamond required. Most people go for the round brilliant cut shape, however, if sparkle is less of an issue, then other shapes will give a bigger 'footprint' to the size of the diamond. In many cases the princess cut, when well selected and at equal weight, will look bigger. This is also true for the emerald, trilliant and Asscher cuts.
The extreme of actual visual size to weight ratio is with the 'ROSE' cut which is basically a very flat diamond cut with a minimum of facets. This was very popular in early Victorian times where cutting techniques were less developed and cheap items of diamond jewellery were beginning to be manufactured. One can still find them today and these are sometimes used, not as main stones but as accompaniments.
One can also use the shoulders of a ring as a mounting for diamonds, as an example a main centre brilliant cut diamond set with a pair of pear, trilliant or baguette cut diamonds one on either side. To the eye it will be picked out as one entity as the diamond area will be enlarged and the visual size of the whole will look more impressive without having to fork out for a bigger centre diamond.
There are also what is called 'illusion' settings where very small diamonds are set within a 'pave' setting with polished gold parts around them giving the illusion of extra size. These can be found anywhere on the ring and can make a ring look very impressive indeed at a minimal of extra expense.
As you will have noted, in all cases, the selection of the diamonds is of the utmost importance as they must be properly matched both in the quality of cut, clarity and colour. It is best, therefore that an experienced professional is consulted. You will find more on this at www.JewelleryWebShop.co.uk where a very experienced expert can be found and they specialise in these types of custom made, individually crafted diamond engagement ring, well worth, therefore, taking a look.
