This page gathers the stones in our collection cut as modified brilliants — a faceting arrangement that takes the triangular and kite-shaped facets of the round brilliant and adapts them to other outlines, such as ovals, cushions, pears and marquises. Additional pavilion facets are often introduced so that light returning through the table remains even across a longer or broader shape.
The cut appears here across Paraiba Tourmaline, Aquamarine, Sphene, Rubellite Tourmaline and Pink Tourmaline. In coloured stones a cutter must balance two aims: brilliance, which lifts and brightens, and depth of colour, which comes from the distance light travels through the material. Modified brilliant designs allow a cutter to tune pavilion depth to the tone of the individual crystal — opening up a deeper rubellite, or giving a paler aquamarine more body.
When comparing pieces, weigh face-up brightness against colour saturation, and look at how evenly the pattern reads across the whole table. In Sphene, note also how the cut releases its dispersion; in the tourmalines, how the orientation of the rough affects colour through the crown.
