True Diamond · Cushion Cut Guide · Published 8 June 2026 · Updated 7 September 2026

The cushion has always been the romantic's shape. Rounded corners, larger facets, and a light return that glows where a round brilliant flashes.

It is also the shape most often described badly. Half the cushion rings sold as solitaires are not solitaires, product names round carat weights in whichever direction flatters them, and almost nobody tells you that in lab-grown, the old rule about fancy shapes costing less than rounds has stopped being true.

So this guide leads with numbers rather than adjectives. Every cushion ring True Diamond sells, the actual centre stone weight behind each product name, what the certificate will not tell you, and where a halo earns its place instead of padding a spec sheet.

The Curved V Cushion Diamond Ring. A cushion centre inside a cushion-shaped halo, two round side stones, and pave running down a split shank.

What makes a cushion different from a round brilliant?

Larger facets and softer corners, which produce a slower, warmer glow rather than the sharp uniform flashes of a round brilliant.

A round brilliant carries 57 or 58 facets cut to a formula refined over a century, all of it aimed at bouncing white light back at your eye as evenly as possible. A classic cushion brilliant also has 58, but they are laid out differently and they are bigger, with the corners rounded off rather than cut to points. Modified cushion brilliants add an extra row of pavilion facets, which pushes the count higher and produces the fragmented sparkle the trade calls crushed ice.

Those two cutting styles matter more than the facet number:

• Chunky brilliance. Larger, clearly defined facets. You can see individual flashes. This is the vintage look, and it is what people usually picture when they picture a cushion.
• Crushed ice. Smaller, fragmented reflections that read as shimmer rather than flash. It hides inclusions better and looks livelier in dim light, but it loses the defined facet pattern.

Neither is on the certificate. Ask which one your stone is, because two cushions of identical carat, colour and clarity can look nothing alike.

The rounded corners also do practical work. They are less prone to chipping than the sharp points of a princess cut, and the larger facets disguise small inclusions more effectively than a step cut, where an open table leaves an inclusion sitting in plain view.

Do cushions really cost less than rounds?

Not at True Diamond, and this is worth knowing because the opposite is repeated everywhere. A 1.5 ct cushion here costs more than a 1.5 ct round of the same grade.

The old rule had a real basis. Cutting a fancy shape from natural rough wasted more material than cutting a round, so fancies sold at a discount. Lab-grown rough is grown to order, which takes most of the force out of that argument.

Compare two plain solitaires from the same catalogue, both 1.5 carat, both EF VVS, both single stones with no accents:

Stone values and ring prices taken from each product's price breakup, 7 September 2026. Ring prices are the 14 KT entry.

The cushion stone is 10 percent dearer. The finished ring is further apart again, and that gap is mostly gold rather than diamond: the Vivenne uses more than twice the metal of the Iconic band. Choose a cushion because you prefer how it looks, not because you were told it saves money.

Which cushion rings does True Diamond sell?

Twelve, and they fall into three groups that serve completely different buyers: white cushion engagement rings, yellow cushion rings, and cushion-set eternity bands.

Here are the white cushion engagement rings, with the centre stone weight from each ring's price breakup rather than from its product name. All are IGI certified lab-grown diamonds, and all ship in 14 KT and 18 KT gold in yellow, rose or white.

Verified against the live product pages on 7 September 2026. Prices run from the 14 KT floor to the 18 KT ceiling and move with ring size. The Royal 4 Ct Cushion Diamond Eternity Band sits outside this group at ₹2,09,761 to ₹3,18,239.

One thing that table makes obvious: if you want a plain cushion solitaire with nothing else on the ring, there is exactly one, the Vivenne. The other three all put additional diamonds around the centre, and that is a design choice rather than a compromise, as the next two sections explain.

What is actually in the Curved V Cushion ring?

A 0.47 carat cushion inside a cushion-shaped halo, two round side stones, and 60 pave diamonds running down a split shank. Around 0.93 carat of diamond in total, from ₹87,675.

The V is where the two rows of pave meet and split beneath the halo, which is what gives the ring its profile on the finger. Looked at from the side, the shank opens into two pave lines that lift and separate as they approach the head, so the halo appears to sit on a raised platform rather than flat against the band.

Left, the halo and side stones from above. Right, the side profile where the shank splits into two rows of pave beneath the head.

Be clear about what this is before you buy it. The product name says solitaire; the ring is not one. If you want a single cushion on a plain band, the Vivenne is the ring in this collection that does that. If what you want is the most visual presence for the money, this one puts 63 diamonds on your hand for under ninety thousand rupees, and it is the least expensive way into a cushion here.

When does a halo earn its place on a cushion?

Below about a carat, where it adds real face-up size to a small stone. Above 1.5 carats it starts working against the centre instead of for it.

A halo borrows scale. Ring a 0.47 carat cushion with pave and the whole head reads closer to a carat from normal viewing distance, because your eye measures the outline rather than the centre stone. On a cushion the effect is stronger than on most shapes, since a cushion-shaped halo repeats the outline of the stone it surrounds and the join is hard to pick out.

The arithmetic reverses as the centre grows. Put the same halo around a 1.5 carat cushion and you are ringing an already large stone with small ones, which reads as a cluster. That is why the Vivenne at 1.5 carats has no accents at all and the Curved V at 0.47 carats has 62 of them. Both are correct for their centre weight.

How do you judge a cushion beyond the certificate?

Six things, and only two of them appear on an IGI report. The rest need a rotating video.

The certificate confirms carat, colour, clarity, measurements and symmetry. It does not tell you whether the proportions make the shape work.

1. Length-to-width ratio. 1.00 to 1.10 gives the classic square cushion. From 1.10 to 1.20 it elongates slightly. Above 1.20 it reads rectangular and loses the soft profile people buy a cushion for.
2. Depth percentage. Aim for roughly 61 to 68 percent. Cut too shallow and light leaks through the pavilion, leaving the stone flat. Cut too deep and it hides weight in the belly, so it looks smaller than its carat.
3. Table percentage. Around 58 to 65 percent. Bigger tables push the stone toward crushed ice and away from defined facets.
4. Culet. Modern cushions are cut with no culet or a pointed one. A medium or large culet on the report means an antique-style cut, and an open culet can be visible through the table.
5. Bow-tie. Almost every cushion has some shadow across the centre. No laboratory grades it, IGI included. A rotating video under more than one light source is the only way to see whether it softens as the stone moves or stays fixed and dark.
6. Facet pattern. Chunky brilliance or crushed ice. Not on any report. Ask, because it changes the whole character of the stone.

True Diamond shares rotating stone videos before an order is confirmed. Write to hi@truediamond.in or message +91 9076009085 on WhatsApp and someone will walk you through the specific stone.

Which settings suit a cushion?

Four work reliably, and which one is right depends almost entirely on how big your centre stone is.

• Plain solitaire, four or six prong. Four prongs sit at the rounded corners and show the most stone. Six give more security above 1.5 carats. This is the setting for a centre that can carry the ring alone.
• Halo. Buys face-up size for a smaller centre. Strongest below a carat, counterproductive well above it.
• Split or contoured shank. Lifts the head off the finger and lets a wedding band nest without a gap. The Curved V is this, with pave along both rows.
• Three stone. Two flanking stones give an Art Deco weight. Needs a wider band to carry it, and a centre large enough not to be crowded, which is why the Triple Shine uses a 3 carat centre.

What about the yellow cushion rings?

Four of the twelve rings in the collection are yellow cushion designs, and the cushion is the shape most often used for yellow diamonds because its deeper pavilion holds colour rather than washing it out.

Ask for the colour grade in writing before ordering any of these. Fancy colour is graded on its own scale, from Fancy Light through Fancy Vivid, and that grade is the main driver of value in a coloured stone.

How does a cushion compare to an oval and a pear?

The cushion is the only one of the three that does not elongate the finger, and it is the most forgiving of the three on inclusions and on daily wear.

If you want the stone to look as large as possible for the carat, an oval spreads further. If you want the vintage character and a shape that sits square on the finger, that is the cushion, and no other shape substitutes for it.

What should you confirm before you buy?

Six checks, and the first one catches the mistake this category is most prone to.

1. Read the stone weight, not the ring name. Cushion rings are frequently named for total diamond weight or rounded upward. Ask what the centre stone weighs on its own, and get it in writing.
2. Verify the IGI report. Enter the certificate number on the IGI site and confirm every graded parameter matches what you were told.
3. Ask for a rotating video under neutral light. It is the only way to see bow-tie severity and which facet pattern you are getting. A still photograph will show you neither.
4. Ask for the length-to-width ratio if the report does not state it. Between 1.00 and 1.10 for a classic square cushion.
5. Match the setting to the centre weight. Halo below a carat, plain solitaire above 1.5, and be sceptical of a halo on a large stone.
6. Read the exchange terms. The Surprise Proposal Exchange allows one exchange within 30 days of delivery for a ring of equal or higher value. Cushions vary more between individual stones than rounds do, so this matters more here.

Delivery time depends on the ring and your location. Every product page has a pincode estimator that gives the current date for that specific item.

True Diamond stores in Mumbai (Dadar West and Goregaon East), Hyderabad (Banjara Hills and Kukatpally), Pune (Viman Nagar), Noida (Sector 18), Bengaluru (HSR Layout) and Vizag (Inorbit Mall) carry the collection. A cushion is a shape worth seeing move before you commit to it.

Questions people ask

True Diamond sells IGI certified lab-grown diamonds, with stores in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Noida, Bengaluru and Vizag. Prices, centre stone weights and accent diamond counts in this guide were taken from each product's price breakup on 7 September 2026 and are subject to change. Carat weights for any individual stone are those on its IGI grading report. For current pricing visit truediamond.in, write to hi@truediamond.in, or call +91 9076009085.