How to Save Money on an Engagement Ring

Fancy Shaped Diamonds are cheaper than Round Diamonds

Fancy Shaped Diamonds have increased in popularity in recent times.

hey are beautiful and also they are cheaper than traditional round diamonds. Why? We’ve seen many consumers opting for the Pear, Oval and Emerald Shaped Diamonds as opposed to the traditional sought-after Round Brilliant Shaped Diamond. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at How you can Save Money buying Fancy Shaped Diamonds as opposed to Round Brilliant Shaped Diamonds.

Fancy Shaped Diamonds are any shape other than round. Well-known Fancy Shaped Diamonds include the Princess Shaped Diamond (square sometimes rectangular shape with pointed corners), Cushion Shaped Diamond (square or rectangular in shape with softly rounded corners), Emerald Shaped Diamond (rectangular with trimmed corners, it is known as a step-cut because its concentric, broad, flat planes resemble stair steps), Heart Shaped Diamond, Pear Shaped Diamond, Marquise-Shaped Diamond (also known as a boat-shaped, football-shaped and eye-shaped diamond, or the “navette”), Oval Shaped Diamond and Radiant Shaped Diamond (takes on the elegance of the emerald shape diamond with the brilliance of the round brilliant shaped diamond).

When you compare a Fancy Shaped Diamond and a Round Brilliant Shaped Diamond with the 4 C’s (Carat Weight, Colour Grade, Clarity Grade and Cut Grade) with the same GIA laboratory certification. A Round Brilliant Shaped Diamond of a certain quality will always cost more per carat for the total diamond compared to a Fancy Shaped Diamond of the same carat weight.

There are two (2) reasons for this significant price difference, firstly Supply and Demand and secondly, the Weight-loss of the rough diamond.

Fancy shaped diamonds cost less because cutters can choose a shape that fits with less waste.

Round Brilliant Shaped diamonds are always high in demand and prices can reflect that. Round diamonds have historically been the most popular shape of diamond for engagement rings, because of their popularity, there is a much greater demand for round diamonds and this increases their market price.

When a Round Brilliant Shaped Diamond is cut from a rough diamond you lose more weight compared to when a Fancy Shaped Diamond is cut from a rough diamond. The round diamond is more expensive per carat because more of the rough diamond has to be cut away to create a round diamond compared to what has to be cut away to create fancies. Therefore, the price per carat for a Fancy Shaped Diamond can be 20-30% less than a Round Brilliant Shaped Diamond for a similarly graded stone. Let’s take a look at the price difference between Round Brilliant Shaped Diamonds and Fancy Shaped Diamonds:

Diamond Shape vs Price Effect (2020):

SHAPE	WEIGHT	RELATIVE PRICE
Round	1.00	100
Oval-Cut	1.00	75
Emerald-Cut	1.00	65

Round Brilliant Shaped diamonds are the easiest to buy regarding Cut, although Garry Holloway still rejects more than 90% of the top graded GIA XXX lab graded round diamonds. However, GIA only offers a cut grade for round diamonds. All other fancy shapes don’t have an official cut grade, so with no rules, the vast majority of Fancy Shaped diamonds have poor cut quality, less sparkle, fire and brilliance. That is why, Garry Holloway, the Founder and CEO of Holloway Diamonds uses the many tools he has invented for grading the cut quality of Fancy Shaped (non-round) Diamonds that he offers for sale or sources for his clients.

Fancy shaped diamonds show more colour than round diamonds, so it is better to get a higher colour, especially for larger diamonds. The ‘crushed ice’ looking parts of some fancies are the worst offenders as those parts of a diamond can appear three colour grades lower.

IMAGE I: This H colour diamond shows more yellowish colour in the parts that look like crushed ice. These yellowish areas are concentrated in the dull ‘leakage’ parts of the diamond.	IMAGE II: This ASET image of the same diamond shows a lot of white ‘leakage’ where light passes through the diamond. Holloway manufactures the ASET scopes for the diamond industry worldwide.	IMAGE III: The blue outline indicates a typical area of greatest leakage and less brilliance. This is where the tinted colour can be seen in the ‘crushed ice’ zones.

Fancy Shaped Diamonds are a great option to keep costs low when shopping for engagement rings.

When shopping for an engagement ring, Round Brilliant Shaped alternatives such as the Cushion, Princess or Oval Shaped Diamonds could easily save you 25 – 35% compared to a Round Brilliant Shaped Diamond. Opt for a Fancy Shaped Diamond so you can get More for Less.

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