Radiant Square Cut Diamond: more light than a princess, less fire than a round
Brilliance 72 · Fire 62 · Scintillation 66 · in our census, where the T73 scores 93 · 78 · 80 in diamond
Cropped corners over a brilliant pavilion, on a square. In diamond it beats the T73 on nothing we count, and trails it on light, fire, sparkle and leakage.
Rendered in our 3D Gemstone Simulator from the Radiant Square Cut model, 1.00 ct, studio light.
Radiant Square Cut Diamond
The radiant square is the radiant on a square outline: cropped corners with a brilliant facet plan beneath. Ours is a 49-facet model, 72.8% deep, with its pavilion at 34.64°.
Against the T73 Round Brilliant it has no pros by our margins. It also faces up smaller for its weight, 91 against 100: a gap past our threshold, so a fifth con after the four set out below.
Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond.
A difference counts from 3 points (Brilliance, Fire, Tilt, Leakage), 5 (Scintillation,
Symmetry), 4% (face-up size per carat) 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 Radiant Square Cut in diamond (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond (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 diamond: ahead on 1, level on 1, behind on 6.
Global77, the comparison 90, difference −13
Brilliance72, the comparison 93, difference −21
Fire62, the comparison 78, difference −16
Scintillation66, the comparison 80, difference −14
Spread101, the comparison 100, difference +1
Symmetry100, the comparison 100, difference 0
Shape-norm84, the comparison 100, difference −16
Tilt90, the comparison 92, difference −2
Face-up light census, a different measure from the Cut Grading Tool; Spread and Shape-norm above 100 sit on the ring. Spread is the census's estimate from depth alone; the face-up size in the pros and cons is measured from each model's outline.
We found no score where it beats the T73 by our thresholds. Tilt reads 90 against 92 and symmetry 100, both level. What it offers is relative: set against the princess, it returns more light (72 against 57) and leaks less (12% against 18%), with its corners cropped rather than pointed.
Where the radiant square trails a round
Less light than a round
Brilliance 72 against 93 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 21 points lower
Close to a fifth of its face is grey in the head-on map; the T73's shows a sliver. Its 34.64° pavilion figure is under the 38.9° guide minimum we use for round designs, and we have no measurements of a steeper version.
Radiant Square Cut in diamond · Brilliance 72
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Brilliance 93
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: The Square Cut Diamond returns 85, the most of the square outlines we measure; the Cushion Cut Diamond rounds the corners and returns 80.
Fire 62 against 78 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 16 points lower
Level with the baguette for the least fire we measure in diamond. Fire is the share of returned light that splits into colour, and no other brilliant we measure splits less of it.
Radiant Square Cut in diamond · Fire 62
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Fire 78
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.
What helps: For a compact, symmetrical outline with more colour and nearly a round's light, DG-Octagonal Kite Diamond gives 82 for fire.
Scintillation 66 against 80 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 14 points lower
Its plan has 49 facets against the T73's 73, and scintillation is read from the facets that reach the surface. The princess, with more facets, scores 78.
Scintillation follows the number of facets: more facets, more and smaller flashes as the stone moves. Count the facets in each crown. Drawn from each cut's own model.
What helps: The facet plan sets this. The Cushion Cut Diamond scores 85 on a square with rounded corners.
Leakage 12 against 2 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 10 points higher
12% of the light leaves through the back in our census, against 2% for the T73. The strip keeps the grey at roughly a sixth to a fifth of the face at every angle, a little less at 10° and 20°.
Radiant Square Cut in diamond · Leakage 12
0° · 18% leak
10° · 16% leak
20° · 16% leak
30° · 20% leak
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Leakage 2
0° · 4% leak
10° · 2% leak
20° · 9% leak
30° · 14% leak
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.
Choose the radiant square for a square diamond with cropped corners that keeps more light than a princess, when colour is not the point. Cropped corners are less exposed than a princess's points.
For more light in a square, the Square Cut Diamond; for more fire, the eight-sided DG-Octagonal Kite Diamond, which also returns more light (88). For the most face for its weight in a radiant, the rectangular Radiant Cut Diamond, at a heavy cost in light.
Radiant Square Cut Diamond: questions
Radiant square or princess cut diamond?
The radiant square for light (72 against 57) and less leakage. The princess shows more fire, 83 against 62, but it is the dimmer of the two.
Does a radiant square diamond have much fire?
Not much: Fire 62 against 78 for the T73, tied with the baguette for the lowest we measure in diamond.
Square or rectangular radiant diamond?
For light, the square: Brilliance 72, where the rectangular radiant manages 32. For face-up size per carat, the rectangle, at 118 against 91.
What does a 6.5 mm radiant square diamond weigh?
1.62 ct in our model, heavier than a princess of that width.
Get the Radiant Square Cut files
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Radiant Square Cut 3D files
The Radiant Square Cut as exact geometry: 49 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD,
rendering, printing and casting.
