Radiant Engagement Ring in Emerald Shape?

Can you have an emerald shape engagement ring with the radiant look in the diamond?


Hello,

If I understand correctly, you are asking if it is possible to have a ring with a diamond in an emerald shape but in a radiant cut?

The answer to that question is yes – you can find a more rectangular radiant cut diamond with an emerald-like shape which can be set in an engagement ring - but a rectangular radiant cut diamond will have some loss of brilliance and fire.

The ideal length-to-width ratio of a radiant cut is 1.0 – which is a perfect square. In this shape, the brilliance and fire of the radiant cut is maximized to its highest level. As soon as you go outside of the ideal length-to-width ratio of any cut, there will be some loss in brilliance and fire – how much of these qualities are lost will depend on how far outside of the ideal length-to-width you go.

How to find such a diamond?

My best recommendation is to visit Blue Nile, where you can find a pretty large selection of radiant cut diamonds in an emerald-like shape. Just follow these steps below!

1. Start your diamond search by clicking on this link: Search for diamonds at Blue Nile

Here is where you can begin a search for a radiant diamond with a length-to-width ratio of around 1.25 up to about 1.49.

2. Click on the radiant diamond shape, and then in the “advanced criteria” section click on the ”L/W” box and a length-to-width ratio slider will appear.

3. Adjust the left slider on the L/W box to over 1.00 and wholla, the selection of radiant diamonds with of length-to-width ratio of over 1.00 will appear.

The higher the length-to-width ratio, the more rectangular the radiant diamond shape will be.

Most emerald diamonds in engagement rings have a length-to-width ratio of about 1.35 to 1.40 – so you can use this as a starting point for your search.

Below is a picture of one such Blue Nile radiant diamond I located using this search option.

To help refine your search, stick with the clarity and color GIA grade parameters that are best for the radiant cut.
  • Color: D to I

  • Clarity: Flawless to SI2

If you go below these parameters, the diamond may show color tints and possible inclusions or blemishes.

Because this shape of radiant cut diamond is outside of the norm, it is not likely that you will find a ring already made with such a diamond. But, you can choose to purchase the diamond and have it set by a local jeweler – or you can use Blue Nile’s “Design Your Own Ring” option and choose an engagement ring style - or design your own with the user-friendly tools - which can be set with the radiant cut emerald-like diamond of your choice.

A 4-prong setting will most likely suffice for most of the diamonds, but if you start going over 1.5 carats and especially up to 2 carats you may want to have a 6-prong setting instead to make sure the rectangular diamond is completely secured.

Brilliant Earth also has a few such diamonds which can be located the same way, but not as many as Blue Nile.

The most recent search I performed for radiant cut diamonds with higher length-to-with ratios resulted in about 70 diamonds at Blue Nile – and many of the diamonds have excellent clarity and color grades too.

I hope this answers your question – do write back though if you have any more! And thank-you for sending in this question - choosing a radiant diamond with a higher length-to-width ratio is one solution to finding a more emerald-like diamond shape with may showcase higher brilliance and fire qualities than emerald-cut diamonds.

Suzanne Gardner
Everything Wedding Rings

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