Diamond Shapes

		The Round Brilliant: The round brilliant is by far the most popular and has the best angles for which to shine maximum brilliance. It has 57 facets
		The Pear Cut: When it comes to polishing and the trade, the pear cut occupies the second place after the brilliant. It is an intermediary shape between the brilliant and the marquise. Aesthetically, it is a very flattering cut in the shape of a water drop. The round part glitters the most, while the luminosity has difficulty reflecting to the point because the angles of the bottom facets are no longer than 40 degrees
		The Marquise or Navette Cut: This cut thanks its name to the Marquise of Pompadour: a legend relates that the Sun King would have had a stone polished according to the shape of the mouth of the Marquise of Pompadour. The elongated shape ends in a point at both extremities, the navette offers a very luminous centre, but loses its sparkle towards the points. The marquise cut is identical to the brilliant cut as regards the number of placement of the facets, but is more difficult. The construction of the facets requires a lot of experience and fragility of the sharp points demands utmost precaution.
		The Emerald or Octagonal Cut: The emerald cut is usually rectangular but older, square cuts are still around. It is a step-cut diamond; that is, it has rows of facets - usually 48 to 50 - that resemble as staircase and usually are four-sided or elongated. The typical size of a 1 carat rectangular Emerald Cut would be 7 by 5 mm.
		The Oval Cut: The oval’s technique name is ’oval modified brilliant’, based upon its shape and modifications of the traditional round brilliant configuration. The oval was invented by Lazare Kaplan in the early 1960’s. 56 facets are typical for oval brilliants.
		The Princess Cut: The Princess is a brilliant-style shape with sharp, uncut corners. It is typically cut perfectly square, rather than as a rectangle. Brilliant style refers to vertical-direction crown and pavilion facets that are wide at the culet and narrowed toward the girdle, the opposite of the pavilion-facet arrangement on a curved-corner radiant. A Princess generally has 76 facets, giving it more brilliance and fire than a round brilliant.
		The Radiant Cut: This cut is another variant on the rectangular cut. It forms the basis of a whole series of cuts derived from it ( such as the princess cut ).
		The Heart Cut: The technical name for this stone is the ’Heart-Shaped Modified Brilliant’, based upon its shape and modifications of the traditional round brilliant configuration. Heart-shaped brilliants typically contain 59 facets.