When choosing the diamond that is just right for you there are a lot of aspects of your diamond purchase that you’ll need to be educated on.  Of the 4-C’s; Color, Carat Weight, Clarity, the only area where human influence can be exerted, is the Cut of your diamond. Here is a very basic summary of the different diamond cuts you can purchase through Van Scoy and recommendations as to other important C's to consider when making your purchase. Asscher- The Royal Asscher Cut has a high crown and 74 facets – whereas the modern square-emerald cut, and the original Asscher both have 58 facets. Today the Asscher family name is often used as a commodity term for square-emerald cuts.  It is recommended for this type of cut to choose a diamond with color H or better and recommend people buy VS2 Clarity or better. Because neither the Asscher nor Emerald cuts are based on brilliance, but rather to highlight the clarity and color of the diamond you should choose accordingly. Cushion- The Cushion cut is a square/rectangle cut with rounded edges. The parameters are very loose so it’s important to remember that with Cushion cuts you can’t determine a stone’s cut quality by its numbers alone. It is recommended to have a color H or better unless you’re purchasing a fancy-colored diamond or setting the diamond in a yellow-gold mount in which case you can downgrade to a color designation such as J or K. Clarity should be SI2 or SI1, anything with more inclusions may become visible to the naked eye due to the large open table on top of the diamond. Emerald- These stones often have their corners truncated, creating an emerald cut with an octagonal outline. Because both the pavilion and crown are comparatively shallow, step cut stones are generally not as bright and never as fiery as brilliant cut stones, but rather accentuate a diamond's clarity (as even the slightest flaw would be highly visible), whiteness, and luster (and therefore good polish). See Asscher recommendations above. Marquis- Is a modification of the round-brilliant cut with the distinct foot-ball shape. Carat for carat, the marquise diamond has one of the largest crown surface areas of any diamond shape, making it a good choice when trying to maximize the perceived size of a diamond. Like the oval diamond, the marquise cut diamond's elongated shape can make the finger of the wearer appear longer and slimmer. Oval- The oval cut has beautiful brilliance that's similar to a round diamond. Oval diamonds are also very popular as their length can accentuate long, slender fingers. It is recommended that you choose a color G or better and clarity can be as slow as SI2 (again, setting style will be a key to hiding inclusions depending on where they’re located). For the most traditional length-width ratio of oval diamonds, look for ratios between 1.33 and 1.66. Pear- Most people find that they prefer pear shapes with a length to width ratio of about 1.55 to about 1.75.   Because the Pear shape is a brilliant cut it can hide inclusions and will find a well cut and carefully mounted SI2 will still look spectacular. Pears show off color in the diamond, so if you want your diamond to still look white than be sure to set it in white gold/platinum or purchase a diamond in this cut with color H or better. Princess- The princess cut is sometimes referred to as a square modified brilliant. Its faceting style is unique and completely different from that of a round brilliant. Recommendations match that of the Radiant cut. Radiant- The Radiant Cut was designed for getting maximum brilliance. Like the emerald cut, the radiant cut diamond is often a rectangle (sometimes square) with cropped corners, but the emerald cut has long trim lines, the radiant cut is faceted for fire. Minimum recommendations should be a clarity rating of VS2 with Color G. You can push the quality a bit farther with the right diamond to SI2 and Color I, but be sure to see the diamond in person. Round (Brilliant)- By far the most popular cut found in contemporary engagement rings, diamond cutters have been studying and refining the round cut for decades.The minimum recommendations would be a diamond with clarity rating of S12 and color of G.