How "clipped" should the emerald's corners be?

[Lovey Lace]

I was browsing through emeralds on IG, and it struck me for the first time that emeralds have different "chamfered-ness" to their corners. I've always only paid attention to the length:width ratio to see which shape I preferred, and never noticed that some have far more clipped corners than others. My question is, is there a certain amount of "chamfered" that's considered ideal, versus one that's considered suboptimal, as a result of poor cutting for example? Or does it all just boil down to personal preference? 2 examples here, A and B. Vote in poll and comment below.

 

[LilAlex]

That's a great question!

I prefer "B" but maybe not for esthetic reasons; it says "emerald" to me. "A" reads more like tourmaline. There is a reason that tourmaline is terminated that way -- so the ends aren't too dark -- and I hope a lapidary can weigh in because I forget. It obviously preserves material (carat-weight) if the crystal habit is very columnar.

I have faced this with square-ish step cuts. When is it an emerald-cut and when does it transition to octagonal? And must all sides be the same length for it to be octagonal? Spouse had a square-ish cushion that was variously referred to as that or an octagon -- but a polish turned it unequivocally into a cushion (no angles in the silhouette).

I'm not crazy about that middle photo of "B" and I am not 100% sure why. Seems dark and lifeless -- but that could just be a frame-grab, etc.

 

[dk168]

Difficult, as the amount of corner cut off is only one of the considerations to be made when deciding on an Emerald.

Based on the two Emeralds in question, although I like the overall shape of B in terms of length and width ratio and the amount of corner cut off, I prefer the colour, cutting and clarity of A as it is more appealing to me, and would prefer to get A rather than B.

Hope that makes sense.

DK

 

[Lovey Lace]

That's a great question!

I prefer "B" but maybe not for esthetic reasons; it says "emerald" to me. "A" reads more like tourmaline. There is a reason that tourmaline is terminated that way -- so the ends aren't too dark -- and I hope a lapidary can weigh in because I forget. It obviously preserves material (carat-weight) if the crystal habit is very columnar.

That's a great point about having barely-clipped corners looking more like a tourmaline. Often times when I look at high jewelry, like this harry winston, the emerald is already set so maybe that's why I haven't paid much attention to the corners in the past.

 

[Lovey Lace]

I'm not crazy about that middle photo of "B" and I am not 100% sure why. Seems dark and lifeless -- but that could just be a frame-grab, etc.

Difficult, as the amount of corner cut off is only one of the considerations to be made when deciding on an Emerald.

Based on the two Emeralds in question, although I like the overall shape of B in terms of length and width ratio and the amount of corner cut off, I prefer the colour, cutting and clarity of A as it is more appealing to me, and would prefer to get A rather than B.

Hope that makes sense.

DK

Sorry, I should've clarified better, I was only curious about the clipped corners of the emeralds, like which style looks better or if one was considered "off". The pictures attached are just screenshots I got from IG, I think the 2 "A"s in pictures 1 and 3 may not even be the same stone, or maybe they are, the vendor just posted them some time apart. I just scrolled through IG to find representative samples.

Please ignore the color, L/W, clarity, and all. Just curious why some had more cut corners

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

A bit more clipped than A and a bit less clipped than B is what I would like!

 

[dk168]

I am guessing it depends on the quality of the rough to start with, if there are more impurities/imperfections in the corners, then more would need to be cut/shaved off etc...

The amount of corners alone as the sole consideration, I like both with no preference of one over the other, as long as there are corners - not keen on baguettes in Emeralds personally.

As I have said before, it is only one of the many considerations when evaluating an Emerald.

Personal preferences and all that.

DK

 

[chrono]

I prefer B but that is lower in priority when considering colour, clarity and treatment. My guess on why one is more angled than the other would be the cutter trying to make the most of the rough material (for maximum weight retention / least amount of rough lost in cutting).

 

[T L]

I like B because it reminds me of an asscher or the more Art Deco cuts of the past,

 

[Lovey Lace]

I think I just found the answer to my own question from this very old thread I dug up using my sleuthing (aka googling) skills, seems to be all about maximizing or maintaining weight by *not* clipping the corners too much: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...chers-with-small-corners-and-windmills.78433/