Everything You Need To Know About Heart Shaped Diamonds
If you are looking for a diamond ring to express your love, none can come close to a heart shaped diamond ring. Owing to their magnificent shape, heart shaped diamonds are used in engagement rings, pendants, earrings, and basically any other form of diamond jewelry.
As far as their shape is concerned, heart diamonds are an instant favorite. However, it is important to focus on the other defining aspects to assess their worth and quality.
Here is everything you need to know about the cut, clarity, color, price, and shape of your heart diamond.
The Heart Shaped Diamond
Heart diamonds stand as a timeless symbol of love and affection. It is the literal embodiment of the emotion of love in the form of jewelry. For this very reason, it stands as one of the most popular shapes for diamonds.
Round diamonds account for more than two-thirds of the total number of diamonds sold throughout the world. Heart diamonds are much rarer than round diamonds, making them a unique and rare choice.
Heart diamonds have a special place in history. Dating back to 1562, the first supposed heart diamond ring was gifted by Mary Queen of Scots to Queen Elizabeth as a mark of friendship.
More recently, this particular diamond is popular among celebrities. Nick Minaj has been seen sporting a heart diamond and Lady Gaga wowed the world with her giant heart shaped diamond pave engagement ring.
Irrespective of the startling difference in shape, a heart diamond is based on round brilliant diamonds. It has 56 to 58 facets with 6 to 8 facets making up the diamond’s pavilion.
The Cut Of Your Heart Diamond
Owing to its unique shape, the cut of this particular diamond shape becomes crucial. It is difficult to judge the cut quality of heart diamonds because the Gemological Institute of America or GIA does not grade the cut quality of fancy diamonds. For this reason, the following factors are very important when assessing the cut quality of your heart diamond.
Length to Width Ratio
It is important to preserve the shape of this particular diamond. For this reason, sticking to a length-to-width ratio of 1 is ideal. This means that the length of the diamond is equal to its width.
Diamonds with an ideal length-to-width ratio will look proportionate and natural without seeming overly bulky or stretched.
Diamonds of this cut with a length to width ratio less than 0.90, appear to be chubby and unnaturally wide. Similarly, diamonds with a ratio of more than 1.10 look elongated and thin.
A ratio of 1 or as close to it as possible is ideal for the most proportionate heart diamond.
Depth And Table Percentage
The flat top surface of a diamond is referred to as its table. The dimensions of this table are expressed in percentage. The table percentage of a diamond has a major impact on the amount of light that enters the stone and is reflected on our eyes.
Ideally, a heart diamond’s table should make up about 57% to 62% of its total width. Diamonds with a table percentage between 54% to 64% are worth considering if they have a decent cut quality.
The measurements of a diamond from top to bottom are referred to as its depth. This is calculated in percentage as well. The ideal depth percentage of a heart shaped diamond should be between 57- 66 to extract the maximum amount of fire and brilliance from the diamond.
Symmetry
Symmetry is a crucial factor for heart shaped diamonds. The diamond shape is based on symmetry. There are several factors that you need to consider when evaluating this particular cut’s symmetry
Several aesthetic features like the cleft, the point, the lobes, the belly, and the wing affect the symmetry of this diamond shape.
The cleft is the inward-facing point at the top of the diamond. Your diamond needs to have a distinct heart shape. The cleft is what makes the heart shape of the diamond distinct, even from the side.
The bottom of your diamond should neither be rounded nor should it be too sharp to be prone to chipping. It needs to divide the bottom section of your heart diamond into two clear and distinct parts. This is what is referred to as the point of your diamond.
The lobes are what create the upper rounded areas of the heart, they must be symmetrical. You should be able to draw an imaginary line from the cleft to the point, while equally separating the two lobes from each other.
The wings and the belly of heart diamonds refer to the shape of the sides. They should not be chubby.
Clarity Of Your Heart Shaped Diamond
The clarity of a diamond is graded from an IF – Internally Flawless, to I2- Inclusions 2, by the GIA. The clarity of your diamond refers to how clear or free from inclusions your diamond is.
Here is the GIA clarity chart from reference.
- IF – Internally Flawless
- VVS1 – Very Very Small Inclusions
- VVS2 – Very Very Small Inclusions
- VS1 – Very Small Inclusions
- VS2 – Very Small Inclusions
- SI1 – Small Inclusions
- SI2 – Small Inclusions
- I1 – Inclusions
- I2 – Inclusions
It is very rare to find a heart diamond in the IF clarity grade and they are very expensive. We recommend buying eye-clean diamonds for this particular cut of a diamond. Choosing SI2 clarity or higher is perfect for it.
It is always better to get your clarity grade examined by an expert before purchasing.
The Color Of Your Heart Diamond
The GIA grades the color of your diamonds from D to Z. D being colorless while Z clarity has obvious yellow or brown tints.
The Heart diamond is a modified version of the Round Cut Diamond. Round cuts in general mask color very well. Owing to this particular aspect, you don’t need to pick a premium color grade for your heart-shaped diamond.
When picking the right color grade it is always important to keep the setting in mind. Picking an H color diamond or better is recommended for a white gold or platinum ring setting.
To demonstrate the difference in price between two separate color grades, let’s consider two separate heart diamonds. Both are 1-carat diamonds in the VS2 clarity grade, one is an H color and the other is an F color diamond.
The H color diamond roughly costs $3,800. In a 14k white gold ring setting, it comes out to be $4200. An F color diamond of the same specifications comes to $ 6,400, lose, and around $ 6,800 with the same 14k setting. The difference is clear as day. For this reason, it is best to choose your color grade in accordance with your ring setting.
For a yellow gold or rose gold setting, you can relax on the color grade a bit. Choosing a J color grade is ideal for solitaire rings. These color grades often showcase a yellow tint in the diamond, which is completely masked by a yellow gold setting.
Choosing The Ideal Carat Weight For Heart Shaped Diamonds
With fancy diamond shapes, our recommendation is always to go for higher carat weight. Choosing negotiable color and clarity grades can make your heart shaped diamond within budget.
The entire appeal of heart shaped diamonds lies in their distinct shape. This beautiful shape is not noticeable with lower carat weights. A 1 carat is an ideal choice for heart shaped diamonds. In case you are on a very tight budget, do not go for a carat weight lesser than 0.5. As mentioned earlier, anything below this carat weight will make your diamond hardly distinguishable and won’t bring out itsDiamondsre diamond shape.
The Price Of Heart Shaped Diamonds
Although Heart shaped diamonds are variants of Round Cut Diamonds, they are around 15% to 20% cheaper than them, considering the same cut, clarity, color, and carat weight. Owing to the shape of heart diamonds you can get a larger diamond as compared to round diamonds of the same carat weight.
The pricing of heart shaped diamonds is dependent on cut, clarity, color, and carat weight. A 1-carat heart diamond of J color and SI1 clarity might be roughly worth around $2000. For a similar carat weight but with higher color and clarity grades, the price of your diamond can amp up to almost $9,000.
Following all the advice provided to you, you will be able to buy
a sizable heart diamond at the best possible price.
The Best Way To Buy Heart Shaped Diamonds
The right jeweler can help guide you to buy the right diamond. However, it is always difficult to find the right jeweler. Jewel Hero has found an easy solution to this problem.
All you have to do is log in to our website, answer a few questions regarding your preferences and that’s it. We will connect you with jewelers near you, with whom you can connect virtually. Choose your jeweler of choice and find the diamond of your dreams.
So what are you waiting for? Visit our website today and take a step towards finding your ideal heart shaped diamond.