Emerald Cut Engagement Rings

An emerald cut is a step cut, not a brilliant. Its facets run in long parallel lines rather than triangles, so it does not sparkle in the way a round does — it gives broad, clean flashes of light, the effect jewellers call a hall of mirrors. People who choose one usually do so because they are tired of sparkle.

Buying one is a different exercise. With almost no brilliance to break up the light, there is nothing to hide an inclusion behind: a flaw that would vanish in a round brilliant sits there in plain view. Colour shows more readily too. We would not set anything below VS2 in an emerald cut, and we will show you the stone under magnification before we do — on this shape, clarity matters more than carat.

Twenty-nine of our settings take an emerald centre. The Federica is built for nothing else: a 4.00 mm plain band, no accent stones, straight lines against straight lines. The Ximena was drawn around the same shape, with a light twisted pave that stays out of the stone's way.

Made and hallmarked in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, in 9k to 18k gold or 950 platinum.