A Beginner's Guide to Understanding Gemstone Cuts

The cut is the human contribution to a gemstone's beauty. A rough crystal holds potential; the cutter's decisions — proportions, symmetry, facet arrangement — release that potential as light return, colour saturation and visual character.

Faceted Cuts: Light and Brilliance

Faceted cuts use geometrically arranged flat planes to reflect and refract light. The round brilliant is the most famous, maximising return for diamonds. For coloured stones, oval, cushion, emerald and pear shapes are common — each balances colour retention with sparkle differently. A well-cut coloured stone shows even colour distribution, minimal windowing (see-through areas) and lively scintillation.

Cabochon Cuts: Colour and Phenomena

A cabochon is a smooth, domed shape with no facets. It is the traditional cut for opaque stones (turquoise, lapis, malachite) and for stones displaying phenomena — star sapphires, cat's eye chrysoberyl, moonstone adularescence. The domed surface acts as a lens, concentrating colour and revealing optical effects that faceting would disrupt.

Mixed and Specialty Cuts

Mixed cuts combine faceted crowns with cabochon pavilions, or use unconventional facet patterns. Rose cuts (flat base, domed faceted crown) offer a subtle, antique glow. Checkerboard and concave faceting create distinctive light play. Custom cuts can be designed to optimise a specific rough crystal's shape and colour zoning.

What to Look For

• Symmetry: Balanced proportions, aligned facets.
• Polish: Smooth, scratch-free facet surfaces.
• Colour evenness: No dark or washed-out zones when tilted.
• Appropriate depth: Not so shallow that light leaks, not so deep that the stone looks smaller than its carat weight.

The Cutter's Art

Every natural crystal presents different constraints — inclusions, colour zoning, shape. A skilled cutter works with these, not against them. The best cuts honour the material while maximising beauty. At MIH GEMS, we select stones where the cutting quality respects the gemstone's natural character.

Explore our current selection to see a variety of cuts in person, or ask us about a specific shape you have in mind.