Trillion Cuts Make a Comeback in Jewelry Design

reasons I started using different cuts is because I felt like my clients were looking for something new,” Zoë Chicco said.

Chicco has been implementing trillion-cut diamonds in her layering-centric line of everyday, attainable fine jewelry, adorning lariats, pendants and cuffs with the cut. She’s also made it the focal point of more extravagant pieces.

“Our clients seem to really like it,” she said. “I am really happy with the response and am planning to add more pieces using trillion-cut stones to the collection next season.”

British designer Rachel Boston, a member of the British Fashion Council’s Rock Vault initiative, explained that she “felt very limited by round or oval stones.”

As a motif, triangles feature heavily in Boston’s designs and not only through the use of trillion cuts. She also depicts triangles through her metalwork and utilizes square-cut stones set on a 90-degree angle to accentuate the cut’s triangular edges.

“I think millennials are keen to experiment with their stone cut choices,” Boston noted. “I feel there is a growing demand for people wanting more unusual-cut stones. A lot of my customers are bored of brilliant-cut diamonds and want something edgier and more modern, and I think the trillion is a great remedy for that.”

Boston noted that trillion cuts haven’t always made fiscal sense for her brand, though that is changing--at least in London’s diamond district.

“Finding trillions was very difficult in the sizes I needed for my designs, and I had to get everything specially cut in Hatton Garden, which became expensive,” she explained. “But now there is more of a demand so finding the stones already polished has become much easier, and I’ve been able to make a few engagement rings using trillions in larger sizes as well.”

Boston wasn’t the only jeweler to mention the trillion cut’s engagement ring possibilities; the cut is trickling into the bridal market, albeit the alternative category. Brooklyn-based Teresa Kahres of line T. Kahres noted that her trillion-cut engagement ring is her most popular style.

“I think (customers) are responding well to this ring and cut of diamond because it has a modern twist from a traditional engagement ring,” Kahres explained.

Korean designer Inhwa Yu of new brand Comme de Musee, which launched in the U.S. market at this year’s Couture show, touched upon the difficulty of finding the quality of trillions that she desires. In Las Vegas, Yu showed a cocktail ring composed entirely of a myriad of multi-colored trillion-cut sapphires, a piece that, ultimately, she wasn’t sure was worth the effort.

“It took me months to build it. I don’t think I will ever try to make this again,” she said, laughing.

The ring’s eventual owner can take pleasure in knowing it’s truly one-of-a-kind.

Khai Khai designer Haim Medine is pushing the trillion-cut envelope with his latest collection, which is full of what Medine calls “arrow cuts.” His arrow-cut diamonds are a visually arresting, thin, isosceles type of triangle-cut.

“It's a modern spin on the classic trillion-cut diamond,” Medine said. “The reason why I am so attracted to this particular cut is because it’s unlike anything I've seen in the market.”

While trillion-cuts have become more prevalent over the past year, the trend is still in its infancy and will likely endure for the brands who feel it authentically resonates with their design identity.

“The trillion cut diamond is becoming an essential part of the collection for us,” Fehren said, “and we are enjoying using it in new, innovative ways. I feel like our customer is really responding to that.”