CUSHION CUT DIAMOND JEWELRY

No, a cushion usually costs less per carat at the same grades, and it's a cutting difference rather than a quality one. A round is cut to return light and gives up roughly half the rough crystal getting there; a cushion holds on to more of the crystal, so the same weight starts lower. On this page prices range as low as $894.99, which is why a cushion is one of the easier ways to buy size without paying the round premium.

A square with rounded corners and facets big enough to see individually. It's the modern descendant of the old mine cut, the shape cutters worked before electric light, and that ancestry is why a cushion reads antique sitting next to a round. The faceting is brilliant style, cut for light return, not step cut like an emerald or an Asscher. Some cushions are square and some are stretched a little longer; both are cushions, and the longer ones flatter a short finger. Our diamond shapes guide puts it beside the other outlines we cut.

They sparkle differently, and that's the honest answer. A round throws fast, fine glitter. A cushion gives you broad, watery flashes that move slowly across the stone, because the facets are fewer and larger. Two looks turn up: crushed ice, where the pavilion is cut into many small facets and the whole stone shimmers, and the chunky antique look, where a handful of big facets flash one at a time. If you know which one you're after, contact us before you order and we'll tell you which pieces have it.

Yes, more than a round at the same color grade. The big open facets and the deeper pavilion carry body color to your eye, and you'll see it first in the corners. Two things follow at the bench. On a natural cushion, a step up in color buys you more than a step up in clarity, so that's where we'd put the money. And warm metal works with a warm stone instead of fighting it, which is why a cushion in yellow or rose gold often looks better than the same stone in white. On the lab grown side, very high color and clarity grades are the normal supply, so it's less of a decision.

It's one of the safest fancy shapes to wear daily. A princess cut has four sharp corners, and a sharp corner is the first place a diamond chips; a cushion's corners are already rounded off, so there's more material exactly where the knocks land. We set a prong on each corner, and on a longer cushion we add a pair along the sides so the ends aren't carrying the stone alone. Tell us which piece you're looking at, contact us and we'll tell you how we'd set it.