What Is Fancy Cut Gemstones
Category: Technique | Date: 09/18/2020
According to GIA (Gemological Institute of America), each gemstone is evaluated by 4C's. While color, clarity & carat comes mostly from nature, the cut is the human contribution to the gem's beauty. Cut determines the shape of the gemstone and how brilliantly it is set in the jewelry piece. Though standard shapes like round and oval have long ruled the market, fancy gem cuts offer many options.
What are Fancy Cut Gemst ones?
For faceted gemstones, any cut other than a round is considered as a fancy cut. It includes oval, pear, and other cuts, too. In cabochons, anything other than round and oval is termed a fancy cut, including rectangle, square, drops, and different freeform shapes.
No doubt, the beauty of the gemstone shape depends from person to person. However, in various aspects, fancy gem cuts have advantages over other standard shapes. For example:
Compared to a round-shaped, the same carat's fancy shapes offer larger face-up and have less price. Rounds are sold at a premium due to their popularity. Also, more rough is discarded during the round cutting process. Rounds don't look good in big sizes. Big hearts or pears look more beautiful.
Most Common Fancy Cuts
Here are some of the most common and popular fancy cuts:
Cushion-Cut: Also known as pillow cut, the cushion cut is a square with rounded corners, just like a couch cushion.
Oval-Cut: Oval cut features a closed curve that "loosely" resembles the outline of an egg. This elegant shape is suitable for rings.
Princess-Cut: A square version of the round brilliant, the princess cut has shape edges and offers a modern look.
Emerald-Cut: Displaying a unique "hall of mirrors" effect, the emerald cut displays a unique pattern of light and dark alternating lines through step cut and straight cuts.
Baguette-Cut: With fewer facets, a baguette cut is a rectangular or trapezoidal cut.
Radiant Cut: More brilliant than emerald cuts, a radiant cut is a rectangular cut with beveled corners.
Pear-Cut: Modern pear cut is a brilliant-cut with 58 facets. Despite showing brilliance, the pear cut shows inclusions more readily.
Marquise-Cut: With large crown surface area, the marquise or navette cut looks larger than any other carat size cuts.
Other less popular fancy gem cuts are rhombus, parallelogram, triangle, and octagon.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Fancy Gemstone Cuts
Fancy gem cuts increase various characteristics of a gemstone, such as brilliance, fire, color, or clarity. No doubt, fancy gem cut have looser percentage standards compared to round cut stones, one has to keep the following points in mind while shopping:
- Avoid dark spots in the gemstone and see through areas.
- The cut should be symmetrical as unnecessary bulges add weight.
Besides, fancy gem cuts offer various options to create a masterpiece to cherish for years to come.