Emerald cut stones

Asher cut stone

 Emerald cuts:


Round is very common but there are also, square or rectangular stones (emerald cut) (also Asher cut). The corners of the Emerald cuts are cut off, so you have an octagon with 2 pairs of longer sides. (The pointed corners of a stone like a Baguette, can be prone to breakage.)  Emerald cuts are usually slightly cheaper because they simply follow the shape of the crystal structure, have fewer facets and are easy and faster to cut.  Unfortunately, they do not have the fire and sparkle of round stones and all those flat surfaces allow you to easily look deep into the stone.  You notice every flaw in the stone.  Very large stones are often cut this way in order to salvage as much size and weight as possible.  Basically, there is very little waste.  Smaller and simpler stones are called baguettes and they are much cheaper and are used decoratively in pieces of jewelry so that you see a change in texture in a complicated assortment of stones in a piece. 

These emerald cut stones tend to be relatively

Emerald cut and baguettes.



flaw free because it is hard to hide flaws behind the big flat facets.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the third 'C' or Clarity

 CLARITY I think this is pretty easy to figure out...If there is nothing at all inside the stone but diamond, then it is clear and flawless. When an appraiser looks at a stone, he does it with ten power magnification.  If he looks at the stone under an eye loop or a microscope and sees nothing at all in the entire stone, then he may judge the stone to be flawless or he may say Internally Flawless.  This includes things like abrasions, scratches and chips. There are lots of opportunities to hide imperfections in the stone.  When you look at one, the center is pretty easy to see right through the stone to the bottom.  But as you move to the sides, the complex play of light and the many facets of the cut stone can mask what is inside, basically hiding whatever is there with light and reflections. The jewelry piece may have prongs or a band of gold holding the stone into the setting.  These may be strategically placed to cover a flaw that is located near the ed...
Read more

Marquis cut stones

 Marquis (Marquise) shaped diamonds. This shape is sometimes referred to as a navette,(usually in colored stones) from the French for little boat.  They are long ovals or ellipses that come to a point rather than a rounded end. To my eye they have less life than some other shaped stones and can, again, form dark shapes inside.  They are also cut from more awkward pieces of rough.  They are very useful, again, in complex jewelry design.  I have never seen a Marquis shaped diamond ring or pendant that I liked.  The long narrow shape exposes the sides of the stone to possible damage.  Often the points of the stone can be easily broken as well.  The points are often capped with a broad prong that covers the point.  When the stone is struck, the stone can often be shifted sideways(diagonally) in its mount and the stone can come loose easily or break off at the points. This is not a stone for an active lifestyle. The long, pointed shape can also ha...
Read more

The fourth 'C' or Carat weight

 CARAT WEIGHT The last of the "C"s is carat weight.    This is not the same as the Karat that indicates the percentage of gold in a piece of jewelry. Carat comes from the Carob Bean.  The carob has round seeds, and they are all fairly uniform in size.  Lacking anything else to use as a standard of measure in early times, they decided that the carob beans were regular enough to use as a standard of measure. One carob bean was a carat. My question is what happens as the bean dries out and gets lighter? A carat is divided into 100 points.  So, one and a half carats was 1.5c. or 150 points and a quarter carat is .25ct or 25 points. Diamonds become rarer in larger sizes.  As they become rarer, they become more expensive, but not evenly...they jump up in price as they reach certain sizes.  This is not absolute, but .25 or 25 points is a size that experiences a sudden change.  .5 is another jump in price....75 as well.  One carat is a fairly la...
Read more