Rose Cut Diamonds: Everything You Need to Know
But what is more beautiful than a rose? The rose is an adored symbol of love and romance. The only thing more attractive is a rose-cut diamond, an antique-inspired alternative to traditional diamond cuts.
Rose-cut diamonds are unique in cut and appearance, are easily identifiable, have a long and rich history, and are experiencing a resurgence in popularity even amongst A-list celebrities. Offering a vintage appeal, rose-cut diamonds make for a beautiful collector’s item or symbolize a life-changing event.
Rose Cut Diamond: What is it?
As the name suggests, a rose-cut diamond is resemblant to a rosebud. Unlike brilliant diamonds, which have a point at the bottom like a cone, rose-cut diamonds are flat on the bottom and more shallow in stone depth. This results in more light escaping from the diamond which does reduce its brilliance. It’s not the right diamond for you if sparkle is high up on your list.
Brilliant cut diamonds have a unique cut to maximize brilliance, otherwise known as white light reflection and more widely recognized as a diamond’s sparkle. A brilliant-cut has 57-58 facets. A facet is a flat surface on the geometric shape of the diamond, where the light enters. Comparatively, rose cut diamonds are more luminous in appearance, created with only 3-24 facets. The result is fewer mirrored surfaces for light reflection.
Reasons to Love the Rose Cut Diamond
Rose-cut diamonds are considerable in size, modestly priced, beautiful in appearance, exhibit a romantic luster, are highly customizable in shape, and interestingly transparent. Furthermore, the stone is easy to wear as its shallow depth sees it rest close to the skin.
Larger Perceived Size: As rose-cut diamonds are more shallow in-depth than their brilliant-cut counterparts, the weight of the diamond shows on the top face. As a result, rose-cut diamonds appear more prominent than other diamond cuts of similar size.
More Diamond for Your Money: With the pointed bottom eliminated, the carat weight redistributes to be more visible. Appropriately, the diamond appears larger without incurring additional costs.
Strikingly Unique Appearance: While rose cut diamonds are becoming increasingly popular, they are still relatively rare - experts say rose cuts make up merely 0.1 percent of modern diamonds. Because of their rarity, rose-cut diamonds are especially eye-catching.
Subtle Luster Above Sparkle: Rose-cut diamonds exhibit a unique luster or interaction between a light source and a diamond surface. While brilliant-cut diamonds are known for their sparkle because of the depth of their pavilion and many facets, rose-cut diamonds offer a more subtle, romantic luster.
Variety of Available Shapes: As rose cut diamonds are not restricted by a pointed base, they are available in unique diamond shapes like oval, square, round, rounded square, pear, kite, and hexagon. The few facets of rose-cut diamonds make them highly customizable and formidable into irregular shapes.
How to Spot a Rose Cut Diamond
In addition to their flat base, rose-cut diamonds have a domed top and are typically cut into distinctive triangular facets resembling a bloomed rose. While brilliant-cut diamonds present a pavilion, or pointed base, and are easily identifiable for their sparkle, rose-cut diamonds offer a more muted luster and vintage elegance.
Because of rose-cut diamonds’ fewer facets and shallower depth, they display a more softened light return as light refraction restricts. Furthermore, the shallow depth presents rose-cut diamonds as more transparent than stones with a pavilion. Antique in appearance, rose-cut diamonds were first created by hand before revolutionary technology emerged in the early 20th century.
How do Single Rose Cut and Double Rose Cut Diamonds Compare?
Single Rose Cut: Boasting a single layer of facets, single rose-cut diamonds feature a centered double layer in the stone. Often, they may have smaller diamonds surrounding them.
Double Rose Cut: Also known as a Double Dutch Rose Cut, double rose cut diamonds are set high or deep, have additional layers of diamond facets, and mirror the briolette diamond cut.
Rose Cut Diamond Origin and History
Though rose-cut diamonds first appeared in India in the early 1500s —when cutting techniques were far more straightforward — they were made famous in the Georgian Era, or 1700s. As the practice of cutting diamonds began before the invention of electricity, they were observed under candlelight for their unique luster, proving to be most beautiful in incandescent light.
As rose-cut diamonds present fewer facets than more modern cut stones, there are fewer surfaces for light to enter the diamond. Furthermore, as rose-cut diamonds are without a pavilion and are flat-based, light refraction is limited. This combination makes rose-cut diamonds have a calm, ethereal appearance.
Rose-cut diamonds lost popularity in the 1900s following the invention of electricity, and soon after that, the creation of more intricate diamond cuts like the brilliant-cut diamond. In recent years, rose-cut diamonds have seen a resurgence in popularity for their rarity among more common modern cut diamonds.
The Fame of Rose Cut Diamonds
A rarity, antique-inspired rose cut diamonds are experiencing a resurgence in popularity for their unique characteristics. They are available in various color grades, including white diamond, champagne, brown, colorless, and salt-and-pepper diamond.
Clarity, or the metric that grades the visual appearance of a diamond, is a crucial consideration when selecting a rose-cut diamond. As rose-cut diamonds are reasonably transparent and have so few facets, imperfections are more evident on their larger surface area.
An imperfection inside the diamond is coined as an inclusion, whereas a surface imperfection is a blemish. Both are considerably more noticeable in a rose-cut diamond, where the facets are more prominent and the diamond’s depth is shallow. As such, clarity grade should be the first consideration before color.
While the cost of any diamond depends on its carat size, brilliance, clarity, and color, rose-cut diamonds are relatively more affordable than same-sized diamonds of more intricate cuts.
For example, a brilliant-cut diamond measuring 6.5mm will weigh approximately 1.0 carat, while a rose-cut diamond of the same size will weigh 0.5 carats because of the pavilion’s absence. The brilliant-cut diamond would cost between $6000-$7000, while the corresponding rose cut diamond would be approximately 20% less expensive.
The antique diamond cut has made a splash in Hollywood, seen on celebrities like Camila Alves, Lily Collins, and most notably, Jennifer Aniston.
Rose Cut Diamond Setting Suggestions
As rose-cut diamonds are vintage in appearance, they look best in a vintage setting. While a rose-cut diamond would look stunning in any piece of jewelry, a ring would be most effective in showcasing its brilliance as it is positioned to interact with more light than a necklace or earrings.
Because a rose cut stone is so unique, it is incredibly stunning in a solitaire ring where it can stand out on its own, not diluted by surrounding stones. Women should choose to wear rose-cut diamonds if they prefer jewelry with an understated appearance and relatively low and durable profile (as it sits lower without the pavilion).
Anyone seeking optimal brilliance should avoid rose-cut diamonds, as the diamonds are not cut in a way to achieve it.
In Summary
Rose-cut diamonds have a shape like a budding rose, with few facets and a shallow depth. The stones tend to appear large, are relatively affordable, and highly unique. Presenting as a flat base and domed top, rose-cut diamonds offer an ethereal, romantic appearance and are more transparent than other diamond cuts.
Though rose-cut diamonds have been around for hundreds of years, they have recently experienced a surge in popularity, even amongst the Hollywood elite. Clarity is an important consideration when selecting a rose-cut diamond, as the cut shows imperfections well.
An antique stone cut, rose-cut diamonds stun in vintage jewelry settings. Rose-cut diamonds are especially notable in solitaire settings, where the unique diamond’s appearance is not diluted by surrounding stones. Despite being unable to showcase exceptional brilliance, rose cut diamonds are exquisitely unique, underrated, durable, and maintain a shallow profile.
