How to make your diamond look bigger

Maximizing the appearance of your diamond

Most women prefer size to colour and clarity when choosing a diamond.  However, those who insist on a white colour and high clarity may have to settle for a smaller size diamond. No matter how large a diamond you pick for your engagement ring, there are design tricks and innovations that can make it look bigger.

Advice from the Prins & Prins design team

 PLEASE NOTE.                                                                           

• Not all diamond shapes have the same size appearance. Compared to a round brilliant cut of the same carat weight, cushion cuts often look smaller, while oval and marquise cuts may look bigger.     
• Also, a well-cut diamond will appear larger than a poorly cut stone that may have a very thick girdle and/or a too deep pavilion.
• Salt-and-pepper diamonds have a greater surface area because they are normally cut in unusual shapes with low or no pavilions.

Design features to make it look bigger

1. An old and trusted trick is to surround your center diamond with a halo of small diamonds which can be set in claws, pavé or even in a thin channel. The halo should be delicate so that it adds to the center stone rather than competes with it. A too wide halo will make your center stone look smaller.
2. By setting your diamond in a thick rim, known as a bezel, it will appear larger. The rim of metal extends the appearance of size beyond the perimeter of the stone, and when set in platinum, it almost disappears.

3. A pair of side diamonds, like trapezoids, pear shapes, half-moons, trilliants, tapered or straight baguettes will complement the center diamond and also add scale to your ring. Three-stone rings are a timeless choice and when the diamonds are set as close as possible to the finger, the context of the ring relative to the hand makes it appear visually larger.
4. Two are better than one. By positioning two differently shaped stones at unusual angles on the finger, the overall appearance is much larger. Such two-stone designs are called toi-et-moi (you-and-me) rings and often provide a full finger coverage. And two half-caraters are much more affordable than one full carat – truly a case of less is more.

5. Choose a non-traditional engagement ring and let our designer create something showy and unusual. Incorporating inexpensive small black diamonds or colourful sapphires, rubies or emeralds, even enamel or wood inlays, will add interest and make your ring a show-stopper.

6. Set your diamond at an unexpected angle. By setting emerald, marquise or oval shapes east-west and not in the traditional north-south position will trick the eye and add visual appeal.

We will rather use our designs skills to let your natural diamond look bigger than advise you to buy a larger Lab-Grown diamond.  Although lab-grown/ man-made diamonds are much less expensive they are in fact worthless.