Do fancy shape diamonds have a cut grade?

Ami, Founder
Updated November 2026 · 3 min read
An emerald cut diamond held in tweezers over a grading report

Quick answer

No. Only round diamonds get an official cut grade on IGI reports. Fancy shapes are all the shapes other than round, such as oval, pear, emerald, cushion and radiant. They are graded on polish and symmetry instead. When a seller calls a fancy shape "Ideal" or "Excellent cut", that label comes from the seller's own filters, not from the lab.

What is a cut grade?

A cut grade rates how well a diamond's proportions send light back to you: how bright it looks, how much it sparkles and how much fire it shows. For round diamonds, the lab measures the angles and proportions and gives one overall grade. Ideal or Excellent is at the top and Poor is at the bottom.

Why do fancy shapes have no cut grade?

Because there is no one best version of a fancy shape. An oval can be long or short. A cushion can be crushed ice or brilliant. Every shape has its own facet pattern, and taste plays a big part too. With so many good versions of each shape, the labs do not set one standard for the best proportions. So they do not give fancy shapes an overall cut grade.

A round diamond with a cut grade next to an oval diamond. On the oval report the cut is not graded, and only polish and symmetry are graded

What the report shows for a fancy shape

  • Polish: how smooth the facets are.
  • Symmetry: how well the facets line up and match.
  • Measurements: length, width and depth in millimeters.
  • Depth and table: the shape of the stone from the side, and the size of its top facet.

Excellent polish and symmetry are a good sign, but they are not a cut grade. They tell you the stone is finished well. They do not tell you how bright it looks.

What does "Ideal" mean on a fancy shape?

It means the seller set its own filters, usually ranges for depth, table and ratio, and calls the stones inside those ranges "Ideal". There is nothing wrong with that. But it is not a lab grade, and it is not on the report. Two sellers can use the same word for very different stones.

How to judge a fancy shape

  • Look for Excellent or Very Good polish and symmetry on the report.
  • Pick the outline you love, longer or wider. That is a matter of taste, not a grade.
  • For long shapes, look for a faint bow tie. That comes from balance, not from any grade.
  • Buy from a seller who picks every stone by eye. The report cannot show how a fancy shape looks on the hand.

How we pick our fancy shapes

There is no official cut grade for these shapes, so we pick every fancy shape center stone by eye. We check the polish and symmetry on the report. Then we look at the stone itself for balance, brightness and a faint bow tie. For round diamonds, our minimum cut grade is Excellent, and most of our rounds are Ideal. You can see the exact grade under Main Stone details on each ring.

Questions people ask

Is Excellent polish and symmetry the same as an Excellent cut?

No. Polish and symmetry tell you how well the stone is finished. A cut grade, which only round diamonds get, also rates how well the proportions send light back.

Is an "Ideal cut" oval certified?

No. IGI and GIA do not grade the cut of ovals. An "Ideal" label on an oval comes from the seller.

What matters more on a fancy shape, the report or the stone?

The stone. The report confirms the grades, but only the stone shows how bright and balanced it is.

Does every round diamond get a cut grade?

On IGI reports, yes. It is the only shape that gets one.

Fancy shapes, picked by eyeThere is no official cut grade for these shapes, so we choose every one by eye for balance and sparkle.

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