Every little girl wants to feel like a princess, so it was marketing genius to give the name “Princess” to a new diamond cut when it was developed in London in the 1960s.

Prior to that time, the overwhelmingly dominant diamond cut was “Round Brilliant” – sounds like an unappealing, overweight member of Mensa.

Even so, the Round Brilliant cut is still the most popular diamond cut, while the Princess cut is a close runner up and the Emerald cut is a very distant third.

Of all the diamond cuts, the Princess cut is the most popular with the diamond industry because its square shape wastes the least amount of the original stone.

Compared with the Round Brilliant cut, which wastes up to 60% percent of the stone, only 20% of the stone is wasted when the Princess cut is used. Far better to be able to charge for the extra carats than leave them in chips on the workbench. Some of the savings are passed on to the consumer. Princess cut diamonds cost slightly less per carat than Round Brilliant cut stones.

Like the Round Brilliant cut, the Princess cut is a brilliant cut that chops up light so the true color of the diamond is hard to perceive. The Round Brilliant cut is better than the Princess cut at returning light, which means it’s easier to detect color imperfections in a Princess cut diamond. For that reason, a Princess cut diamond rated H or I is recommended.

The Gemological Institute of America declines to specify cut grading standards for the Princess cut and only rates them for polish and symmetry.

When choosing loose Princess cut diamonds for setting in rings, make sure the color matches the color of accent diamonds.