Platinum Diamond Engagement Rings Princess Diamond Picking Tips

Princess Picking Tips from RingDesigner.com

Here is some information we call “Princess Picking” to assist you to pick a stunning Princess at the great price. .

Step One

IMPORTANT
Whether you purchase from us or someone else, we want you to get the most for your money. Make sure you have spent a few minutes on our Understanding Diamonds page (Click Here) Understanding Diamonds) before reading this page

Look at all the information on our Understanding Diamonds page for the 4C’s. The knowledge and information for the color, cut, clarity and carat weight are applicable whether the diamond is round cut or a princess cut.

Next Step

But for Princess cut Diamonds, there are two other places to look. They are :

The dimensions as to how a Princess was cut and finished from the raw diamond and
The depth and table percentage numbers appropriate for a Princess (which are different percentages than the ones for a round diamond)

Dimensions

The Diamond's dimensions are on our database as well as on the Diamond's certificate
Make sure you look at the dimensions especially if you want a “square” Princess.
The princess diamond’s dimensions are shown in a three figure phrase such as:
6.0mm - 5.36mm x 3.55 mm
looking down on the top flat part of the princess diamond, 6.0mm is the east/west measurement, while 5.36mm is the north/south, with 3.55mm being the depth from the flat surface at the top of the diamond down to the point on the bottom
A Princess diamond with dimensions of 6mm x 5.36mm x 3.55 mm will not be very square (unless you want a rectangular Princess). The first two numbers in the dimensions (in millimeters) is what you look at
We recommend to stay within 0.29mm between the first two dimensions, and you will be happy with your “squareness”. Example: 6.0mm x 5.90mm x 3.55 would be only 0.10mm different (that is good and below our limit of 0.29mm) while the first one we cited would have a 0.64mm difference (that is not square and well above our 0.29mm recommendation).
As most customers do not have micrometer instruments sitting around to measure how much 0.29mm might be visually. Let’s give you some a reference you can visualize.
- A credit card in your wallet is about 0.75mm thick. So we are recommending to keep the first two dimensions within less than a half a credit card thickness.
- Another example is that a piece of paper in your PC printer is about 0.08mm to 0.10mm thick. So staying within three to four sheets of paper is a goal.

Picking your Princess Diamond to have “pop & “fire”!!!!

The 4c’s are important of course, but without the correct proportions, your diamond will not have the “look” you want. Her is some advice on depth and table percentages for a Princess Diamond. If you have looked at our Understanding Diamonds page, you will see how a proportional depth and table will reflect the light out exactly the way you want. We want you to pick a princess with the best combination of depth and table percentages to get "pop" and "fire". The big key to any diamond so that it has “pop” and “fire” is its depth and table proportions.

The Diamond industry refers to the popular cuts of Marquis, Princess, Oval, Pear, Emerald and Heart as “Fancy cuts”. Due to their unique shapes, each cut type has a different set of depth and table percentages to get a diamond with great “pop” and “fire”. The depth and table percentages for an Oval diamond are not the same for a Princess diamond.

Depth & Table in Percentages
To explain depth and table proportionality, we like to use an example that you might use when working with a word processing or presentation program like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. When you insert a graphic, sometimes it is too big or too little. To change its size, you grab a corner of the image with your mouse pointer and then make it bigger or smaller. BUT, to keep it “proportional,” you hold down the shift key. That allows the image graphic to stay proportional as to its width and height (no mater whether you make it larger or smaller). Otherwise it gets too fat or too tall if the relationship of height to width does not stay “proportional”. The same thing holds true for a half carat or a five carat diamond’s Depth and Table. It is a proportional relationship that must be maintained no mater the size to have the light come out the top correctly.

Depth and Table are EXTREMELY important. Think of a diamond having the qualities of glass, a mirror and a prism. The basic idea is to have the light enter the diamond from the top, the be reflected on all the facets at the bottom, then reflect back out the top with its beautiful colors. Some people refer to this as “pop” or “fire”.

Pop & Fire
To obtain the “pop” and “fire” the proportionality of a diamond must be in a certain relationship. Since a well cut diamond could be a half a carat or five carats, a calculation was developed to figure out just what would be the “better” proportionality of the round diamond shape. If cut “ideally” the “shape” of a half carat diamond will be EXACTLY the same as the five carat one. The major difference of course would be the size, and oh yes the price! But the shape of each one would look like our graphics here. You want it to be like the one on the left.

For you to view, here are stunning digital images of some of our rings with center Princess diamonds:
(Click Here) Princess Diamond items

For a Princess Diamond, we will use the information below, and you will not be disappointed:

On the following chart if we find a Princess with “Good” depth and table, you will not be disappointed. “Good” means just that Good and not Bad. If you go above that, it is even more stunning. Here are those numbers:

Princess Depth and Table

For Princess Shape Diamonds several independent grading organizations recommend as follows:

Remember "Good" does not mean "Bad" Good is acceptable. Do not pick average or below.

Excellent requires a total depth between 64% and 75%

Excellent requires a table percentage between 59% and 72%

Very Good requires a total depth between 58% and 80%

Very Good requires a table percentage between 58% and 77%

Good indicates a total depth between 57% and 83%

Good indicates a table percentage between 56% and 82%
Average indicates a total depth between 56% and 84%
Average indicates a table percentage between 53% and 85%

Below Average Grade A indicates total depth between 53% and 85%
Below Average Grade A indicates a table percentage between 50% and 88%
Below Average Grade B indicates a total depth below 53% or above 85%
Below Average Grade B indicates a table percentage below 50% or above 88%

Our Diamond Database

If there is any particular Princess you want an opinion on, just let us know. We will look as well for you to find a real beauty at a great price. Our only caution is, great diamonds, at very good prices, go fast. Our database is populated with diamonds primary from Tel Aviv and Antwerp. There are also other diamonds who are with brokers. Our sources, are the same sources, that the brokers from NYC, LA, London and Hong Kong buy from.

Lastly, a bit of information regarding our database so that you get the most for your dollar!

We sort our database by the cutter/supplier’s price with a “fixed” mark up added for our profit. We do not make any more profit whether you purchase one diamond for $2,000 or another for $2,500.

You may see two diamonds of extremely similar specifications with one diamond towards the beginning of your search at a low price, then another diamond with similar or almost identical specifications for hundreds more later down the list. The lower priced one is not inferior! The lower priced diamond is closer to the original Tel Aviv cutter and has not started it’s journey down “broker mark up lane” so to speak. So the lower priced diamond, indicates it has not yet been marked up as much so far at the several broker/dealer sale/purchase points along the diamond’s journey ultimately to local jewelry stores.

So if a diamond meets your desired specifications, it is simply a great deal! Many of our Testimonials speak to the price paid to us versus the value appraised independently. We recently had a diamond available to us at 50%+ below Rapp that a customer quickly purchased. But most of the Tel Aviv gems are 35% to 45% discounted. They are a tremendous savings versus your normal retail market and still far below the prices available on major cities “jeweler’s rows”.

How Sure we are of our Diamonds and our Jewelry Product Quality

All high quality RingDesigner.com jewelry item and your Center diamond come completely crafted, sized perfectly to fit, ready to present/wear, in a Black Leatherette box, at one total price with no hidden charges, no shipping (if delivery is an APO address [we use APO/USPS] or within the US [we use overnight FedEx]) or State Sales Taxes, with all the guarantees that Customers have come to expect from RingDesigner.com, including our no hassle full refund guarantee if not satisfied for any reason within 30 days of delivery.

Our goal is to have you 100% satisfied with your RingDesigner.com purchase. Even with our 30 day refund guarantee, in six plus years, we have never had a ring returned for quality, a fact we are extremely proud of. We have had 5 engagement rings returned for the young lady unfortunately saying “No” to our customer.

We hope all this info helped!

Please do not hesitate to contact me personally at gates@ringdesigner.com for any questions or assistance. E-mail is a far better communication method to contact me personally than using phone/voicemail.