Princess Cut Cubic Zirconia: Pros, Cons & Fire

The princess is a square brilliant with sharp corners and a chevron-patterned pavilion. At 68.5% it is one of the deepest cuts on our CZ pages, over a 41.94° pavilion.

That pavilion is above CZ's guide minimum of 38.1°, yet 22% of the light leaks: the square corners, not a shallow main angle, are the likely reason.

Against the same princess in diamond, CZ comes out ahead on both light and fire. Against the T73 in CZ, the gap in light is the widest of the jewelry cuts in our CZ top ten, level with the oval.

Is a princess cut right for cubic zirconia? Pros and cons

Pros

More fire than the diamond princess 92 vs 83

Cons

The heaviest square on our CZ pages 2.44 vs 1.48 ct
Much less light than the T73 in CZ 63 vs 98
More than a fifth of the light leaks 22 vs 1
Smaller for its weight 95 vs 100

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia and with the Princess Cut in diamond. A difference counts from 3 points (Brilliance, Fire, Tilt, Leakage), 5 (Scintillation, Symmetry), 2 (Spread) or 5% (weight); Tilt counts as a pro only for a stone within 5 points of the brilliance it is compared with. How we measure.

All eight scores against the T73

At a glance: the Princess Cut in cubic zirconia (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia (dashed): solid white where it reaches further, hatched where it falls short. Each pro and con is explained, with pictures, below.

Against the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: ahead on 1, level on 1, behind on 6.

Global79, the comparison 93, difference −14
Brilliance63, the comparison 98, difference −35
Fire92, the comparison 87, difference +5
Scintillation78, the comparison 80, difference −2
Spread95, the comparison 100, difference −5
Symmetry100, the comparison 100, difference 0
Shape-norm99, the comparison 106, difference −7
Tilt85, the comparison 87, difference −2

Face-up light census, a different measure from the Cut Grading Tool; Spread and Shape-norm above 100 sit on the ring.

Open it in the Cut Performance Wheel

What the princess gives cubic zirconia

More fire than the diamond princess

Fire 92 against 83 for the Princess Cut in diamond: 9 points higher

CZ's dispersion, higher than diamond's, puts more colour into the princess's chevron flashes. It beats the T73 in CZ as well, 87.

Princess cut in cubic zirconia face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 92) — Look at the coloured flashes: those are fire. Same light, same size, same face-up angle; rendered by our 3D Gemstone Simulator from each cut's own model.

Princess cut in diamond face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 83) — Look at the coloured flashes: those are fire. Same light, same size, same face-up angle; rendered by our 3D Gemstone Simulator from each cut's own model.

Try it yourself: See the fire in the 3D Gemstone Simulator

The catch with a princess CZ

The heaviest square on our CZ pages

2.44 ct at 6.5 mm, against 1.48 ct for the same cut in diamond (+65%)

Deep, square and dense: 6.5 mm across, it weighs 2.44 ct in CZ against 1.48 ct in diamond.

A Princess Cut 6.5 mm across, weighed from the model's measured volume and each stone's specific gravity.

What helps: Buy it by the side length.

Try it yourself: Weights in all seven gemstones on the Princess Cut page

Much less light than the T73 in CZ

Brilliance 63 against 98 for the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: 35 points lower

The T73 returns almost everything in CZ; the princess returns under two-thirds of that. In diamond it does worse still, 57.

Princess cut in cubic zirconia face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 63) — Red, green and blue = light returning to the eye; grey = light leaving through the pavilion. This is the head-on view; the Brilliance score averages a wider cone of light, so the score can differ from what one picture shows.

T73 round brilliant in cubic zirconia face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 98) — Red, green and blue = light returning to the eye; grey = light leaving through the pavilion. This is the head-on view; the Brilliance score averages a wider cone of light, so the score can differ from what one picture shows.

What helps: For a square outline in CZ, the Square Cut Cubic Zirconia returns 85 and the Cushion Cut Cubic Zirconia 88.

Try it yourself: Open this Light Return map in the simulator

More than a fifth of the light leaks

Leakage 22 against 1 for the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: 21 points higher

22% leaves through the pavilion in our census, the most of any jewelry cut in our CZ top ten, against 1% for the T73 in CZ.

Princess cut in cubic zirconia tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 21% of the face leaking — Each frame is the Light Return map with the stone tilted away from you by the angle shown; grey is light leaving through the pavilion. The share under each frame is that picture's own.

Princess cut in cubic zirconia tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 26% of the face leaking — Each frame is the Light Return map with the stone tilted away from you by the angle shown; grey is light leaving through the pavilion. The share under each frame is that picture's own.

What helps: Steepening is not the answer: the pavilion is already at 41.94°. The Cushion Cut Cubic Zirconia leaks 7%.

Try it yourself: Tilt it yourself in the simulator's light map

Smaller for its weight

Spread 95 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: 5 points lower

At 68.5% deep the princess keeps a lot of weight below the girdle, so a stone of a given carat weight is narrower. The outlines at 1 ct show it.

Princess Cut · 4.83 mm at 1.00 ct · Spread 95

T73 Round Brilliant · 5.49 mm at 1.00 ct · Spread 100

Both stones weigh 1.00 ct in cubic zirconia and are drawn to the same scale, from each cut's own model. Spread is face-up size per carat: a deeper stone carries more weight below the girdle and looks smaller for its weight.

What helps: Choose by millimetres, not carats.

Try it yourself: Compare the Spread spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel

Who a princess CZ suits

Choose the princess in CZ for sharp corners and lots of colour, and accept a stone that is noticeably less bright than a round. Protect the corners, usually with V-prongs.

For a square with more light, the Square Cut Cubic Zirconia or Cushion Cut Cubic Zirconia; for brightness first, the T73 Round Brilliant Cubic Zirconia.

Princess Cut Cubic Zirconia: questions

Is a princess cut good for cubic zirconia?

For fire, yes: 92. For light, it trails: Brilliance 63 against 98 for the T73, with 22% leakage.

Princess or cushion cut in CZ?

The cushion returns more light (88 against 63) and leaks less (7% against 22%); the princess has more fire, 92 against 87.

What does a 6.5 mm princess CZ weigh?

2.44 ct, against 1.48 ct for a diamond princess of the same size.

Why does a princess CZ leak so much light?

In our census 22% leaves through the pavilion. The mains are at 41.94°, above the 38.1° guide minimum, so a shallow main angle is not the cause; the corners are the likely one.

Get the Princess Cut files

6 formatsMillimetresWatertight

Princess Cut 3D files

The Princess Cut as exact geometry: 93 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD, rendering, printing and casting.

STEPExact faceted solid for CAD
3DMRhino, closed mesh on its own layer
STLWatertight mesh for printing and casting
OBJMesh for modelling and rendering
FBXBlender, 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, Unity, Unreal
GLBWeb, AR and quick previews

€9.99 · Personal useBuy the 3D files

GemCad96 index

Princess Cut cutting files

The Princess Cut as a faceting design: 81 + 4 girdles = 85 facets, 96 index, 4-fold mirror-image symmetry, ready for the machine.

.ascGemCad design file, 96 index gear
.csvTier table: angles, indices and cutting order
DiagramPrintable faceting diagram

€9.99 · Personal useBuy the cutting files

Questions before you buy? Email us.

More gemstones and cuts

Cubic Zirconia: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The Princess Cut: specifications, model and files

Princess Cut Cubic Zirconia: more fire than a diamond princess