Emerald Cut
A rectangular step cut with cut corners and long parallel facets. Named for the cut used on emeralds.
Instead of many small brilliant facets it uses a few long parallel ones, producing broad flashes rather than sparkle.
It was developed for emerald because the long straight facets and cut corners relieve stress in a brittle, included stone.
It hides nothing. Inclusions and colour tints are more visible through a step cut than through any brilliant.
When you are buying
Only buy an emerald cut in a stone with good clarity and even colour, because the cut acts like a window into it.
Asscher Cut
A square step cut with deeply cut corners, giving a distinctive concentric hall-of-mirrors effect.
Baguette Cut
A small rectangular step cut, used almost entirely as a side stone flanking a larger centre.
Emerald
The green variety of beryl. Panna in Hindi, the stone of Mercury, and almost always full of internal inclusions.
Cut
How a stone is shaped and faceted. The one thing that most affects how it looks, and the one buyers examine least.