In honor of their 75th Anniversary, Big Red teamed up with us for their honorary diamond sweepstakes. One lucky winner, through a promotion on their Facebook page, got the chance to win a loose diamond from us worth $1,937 to commemorate the year Big Red was established. Over the past two decades, Brilliance has built a reputation as one of the leading retailers of diamond, engagement rings, and find jewelry. Each conflict free diamond is hand-picked by gemologists and is manufactured in the US by master jewelers. We offer thousands of certified diamonds as well as a large selection of fine jewelry and engagement rings.

Visit Big Red’s Facebook page to see who the lucky winner is and to participate in their summer long under-the-cap point promotion starting May 14th. Specifically marked anniversary packages of Big Red and Big Red Zero 20 ounce, 2 liter and 12 packs will contain codes with different point values that consumers can redeem for vintage style Big Red memorabilia at BigRedPrizes.com.

Here at Brilliance, we make it our goal to help start off your lives together in the best way possible. But we can’t always do that on our own. Knowing what you want and what will have meaning to you as a couple is an important part of creating the perfect ring. That’s why one customer impressed everyone here at Brilliance by making his custom engagement ring incredibly unique.

Who doesn’t want one of those amazing stories of how you and your spouse met to tell your friends, children, and grandchildren? For Ryan and his fiancé, it was a college romance grown into lifelong love at the University of Michigan. And for them, the place was an important part of the story. So when Ryan came to us looking to create the perfect ring for his soon-to-be fiancé, he had an idea we had never seen before. He wanted to incorporate the University of Michigan’s logo into the engagement ring. Now, we here at Brilliance know what you’re thinking. Why put a school logo on a beautiful, diamond engagement ring? Won’t that take away from the beauty and focus of the stone? And while we do have a customer is always right mentality, we also can say, honestly and without desire to placate anyone, that depends on where you put the logo.

The gallery is a part of the ring where the shank and the setting meet, often in such a way that you can view the base of the diamond. Ryan decided to make use of this space on his custom ring, which is typically hidden from view when a woman holds up her hand to show off that rock. Here, he put the Michigan logo, a capital letter “M”, right below the diamond. This let the culet, or the point at the base of the stone, rest inside the valley of the letter, making the logo look like a natural part of the setting. Just as the University was a foundation for their relationship, the logo is a foundation for the diamond. The important part of the design is not that anybody else needs to see it, but that they know it is there, a simple, elegant reminder of their own story of love and companionship as they start a new phase of their lives together.

The amazing success of this design made us think that if they could do it, why not others? If there is something important that you want incorporated into your ring, we would love to make it a reality. Give our Jewelry Experts a call at (866) 737-0754 and see what we can design for you today.

Originally, cushion cut diamonds were cut using step facets, where the facets are elongated and placed in rows to simulate a mirrored staircase. Marcel Tolkowsky pioneered the modern round brilliant cut diamond by cutting facets perpendicular instead of horizontal (facets that resemble triangles) and found that this produced more brilliance and fire from the stone. These angles were incorporated into the cushion cut to give it more sparkle while keeping the outline of the diamond the same. Thus the cushion brilliant diamond was born.

Cushion brilliant diamonds have very similar faceting arrangements as round brilliant cut diamonds. The facets in the pavilion of a cushion brilliant extend from the center of the diamond out toward the girdle (outer edge), resembling a star. Cushion brilliants contain larger facets and do not have a “crushed ice” look. Rather, they resemble the appearance of round cut diamonds with a pillow like or cushion shape – which makes them so desirable and popular.

Cushion modified brilliants are a variation on the original cushion brilliant shape. This type of cushion cut contains an extra row of facets just below the girdle, where the facets on the pavilion do not actually reach the girdle, resembling a flower shape. Cushion modified brilliants often have exceptional sparkle reminiscent of the “sparkling water” or “crushed ice” appearance of a well-cut radiant shape diamond. Furthermore, because there isn’t a large demand for this particular cut and cutters save more weight when cutting them from a rough diamond crystal, they are less expensive than traditional cushion brilliant cut diamonds.

A third technique was created by diamond cutters to marry the appeal of the cushion brilliant with the brilliance and scintillation of a cushion modified brilliant. Technically still labeled as cushion modified brilliants, we like to call them hybrid cushion brilliants. These diamonds contain four pavilion facets that extend from the center of the diamond out toward the girdle, like the cushion brilliant, but with modified facets in between them. These additional facets provide more sparkle and fire to the diamond while the top of the diamond still features larger faceting like the brilliant round cut. With this cut, diamond cutters are now able to create cushion cut diamonds that retain the carat weight and appearance of a modified cushion with the look of a classic cushion brilliant.

Below you will find a diagram to help you identify cushion brilliants from cushion modified brilliants. If you are currently shopping for cushion diamonds start your online diamonds search now by going to Brilliance.com or contact a Brilliance.com Gemologist by calling 1-866-737-0754 for assistance.

Creating exquisite and elegant engagement rings not only requires human expertise, but also state-of-the-art equipment to produce elite quality jewelry. At the heart of our new production equipment is the Indutherm MC100V casting machine. The Indutherm MC100V, which casts in platinum, palladium, gold, silver and stainless steel, is a compact casting machine equipped with a latest generation induction generator that allows optimum performance. The vibration casting technique ensures better form filling, which creates casts with densities that are greater and more consistent, higher elasticity and greatly reduced porosity. This creates durable, expertly finished jewelry. Also, the MC100V is designed to reach temperatures of 2,000 Celsius very quickly, which means the machine can help save energy while operating at a greater capacity.

Efficiency and environment-friendly traits of the MC100V, helps us achieve consistent high quality products and deliver elegant pieces every single time. The MC100V not only speeds up the production process, but also allows us to keep our entire jewelry production in-house, ensuring that all items are made in the USA. As a result, production costs are cut which allows us to sell retail and customized jewelry at more affordable prices. To learn more about our wonderful retail diamond engagement ring selections as well as our customized jewelry service, visit Brilliance.com.

So what is Pinterest? Pinterest in your “virtual pinboard” that helps you organize and share things that you love on the internet. Whether it is a great recipe or your favorite diamond ring, it can be “pinned” and shared through Pinterest. What’s so fun and enjoyable about Pinterest is that in addition to creating your own pin-boards with your favorite products, it also allows you to follow and browse other people’s pin-boards so you can get some fresh new ideas. Now you can plan your dream wedding, browse engagement rings and organize your home all at the same place.

Join the thousands of fans by following us on Pinterest and keeping up-to-date on our latest arrivals and styles as well as our featured loose diamonds, wedding bands, engagement rings, diamond earrings and diamond pendants. Like any of our products? Re-pin them onto your own boards and share them with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

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Currently, Brilliance.com is ranked #3 in the category “Jewellery” out of 84 online jewelers and our average rating is 9.2 out of 10 on Trustpilot. View the Brilliance.com reviews on Trustpilot or click here to write a review on any online retailer.