This page gathers every gemstone in our collection cut to a rectangular outline — a family that includes step cuts such as the emerald cut and baguette, as well as rectangular cushions and brilliant-faceted rectangles. The shape follows the natural habit of many crystals, particularly the long prismatic forms of beryl and tourmaline, which is why so much fine rough is finished this way rather than forced into a round.
The varieties appearing here are aquamarine, green tourmaline, bi colour tourmaline, pink tourmaline and tanzanite. A rectangular step cut, with its broad table and parallel facets, reads as calm sheets of light rather than scintillation, which suits the soft sea tones of aquamarine and displays the body colour of tourmaline with great honesty. Bi colour tourmaline is especially well served by an elongated rectangle, as the length allows both colour zones to be seen in balance.
When choosing, weigh length-to-width ratio against your setting, and consider that pleochroic stones such as tanzanite and tourmaline show different hues along different crystal directions — orientation is as important to the final colour as the rough itself.
