Round vs Emerald Cut Diamonds: Which Should You Choose?

A round brilliant is cut as a circle with 57 or 58 facets, arranged to return as much light to the eye as possible. An emerald cut is a step cut: long, straight facets set in rows around a rectangular table, with cropped corners. Instead of sparkle, it gives broad, mirror-like flashes of light, often called a hall-of-mirrors effect.

The round reads as classic and symmetrical; the emerald cut as crisp, architectural and a little vintage.

Neither by much. In our search a typical 1 carat round measures about 6.4 mm across, and a 1 carat emerald cut about 6.9 by 4.8 mm face-up. At 2 carats it is about 8.1 mm across against 8.6 by 6.0 mm. The emerald cut is longer and narrower, so it runs farther along the finger and makes the hand look slimmer; the round looks fuller. Face-up, the two cover about the same surface.

Our guide Understanding Diamond Size Before You Buy explains face-up size.

• Cut grade. Cut decides how much a round sparkles, so choose Excellent or Ideal.
• Clarity and color. A round's many small facets hide inclusions well, so an eye-clean VS2 usually looks the same in a ring as a higher grade, and G or H color faces up white in most settings.
• Prongs. Four prongs show more of the diamond; six hold it in more places.

Compare stones in our round diamond search, or read Round vs Pear Diamonds.

A round sits in four or six prongs and suits almost any setting. An emerald cut is usually held by a claw at each cropped corner, or wrapped in a bezel, a thin rim of metal around the stone. Our Valencia comes in both shapes: a five-stone bezel ring with oval and round diamonds on each side. For an emerald cut, Verona is a solitaire in four corner claws, Victoria a three stone ring with tapered baguettes, Odessa a bezel, and Elowen turns the stone east-west, across the finger.

Read Engagement Ring Setting Types for every setting style.