Asscher or Barion Cut for a Small Stone?

[gladyskristen]

Hi,

As some of you know, I'm considering getting a pear sapphire from Dan @ customgemstones.com. At the same time, I'm also asking him to help me cut a stone that will fit the setting of my current (ex)e-ring, which will be reset when my bf re-proposes in the future (we broke off our engagement some time ago). I know this is a little premature, but I just thought, heck, since I'm paying for 1 stone to be shipped down under, I might as well save on shipment and get 2 stones now!

The e-ring setting was custom-made for a cut-corner square brilliant that is 4.8x4.75mm. So the question is, should I ask Dan to cut the new stone in asscher or barion cut? I'd love to use this opportunity to scratch my asscher itch (haha), but I'm not sure if the small size of the stone will make the steps of the asscher virtually invisible. We have yet to choose the material for the stone, but it'll most likely be either a lighter colour sapphire or spinel. I'm thinking either light pink, blue, purple, or maybe even a colour change stone if it's available. I'm waiting to hear from Dan.

Loriken214's dark pink asscher spinel (I'm looking at a much lighter shade):

Barion cut stone from customgemstones.com:

 

[gladyskristen]

Bump!

 

[MonkeyPie]

Jeff won''t actually cut an asscher as small as you''re looking for - I know because that is exactly what I wanted lol. The smallest he will cut is 1 carat, which is about 5.5-6.0 mm. I''m not sure what a barion cut looks like though, so that might be an option.

 

[Proteus]

Asschers are difficult to cut as smaller stones, and will probably not look as good as a larger gem. There are a few too many facets for a small stone. Certain materials will also show some facet rounding from polishing (but that shouldn''t be so much an issue with sapphire.)

I''d go with the barion. They are better suited for a smaller stone, and will be more brilliant.

 

[zeolite]

A gem that small, in a Asscher cut, would have facets too small. Also, because there are so many rows of facets, it helps to cut it in a stone of high refractive index such as spinel, garnet, sapphire, or this 3.05 ct sphene, below.

An asscher cut is usually a square with clipped corners. If you clip the corners more, to suit the shape of some rough, you get an octagaon, or you might call it a half assched-cut:

 

[zeolite]

The sphene above, was photographed in diffused light, to show the facet pattern better. Below, it is photographed in more direct light, to show the high dispersion of sphene:

 

[icekid]

zeolite.......

that is an incredibly stunning sphene! Is it yours?

 

[zeolite]

Yes, a very recent addition, inspired by the fine asscher cuts shown here. This sphene is yellow-green in incandescent light, but is much more green in daylight, as the second picture shows.

 

[Lupinbunny]

Well, I guess the decision''s already been made for you because of the stone size, but my vote was for the barion anyway. I think square-with-truncated-corner barions are just beautiful!

 

[chrono]

I would chose the barion cut which will still give a nice sparkle to the stone. An asscher cut in a stone that small will do no justice to the stone. Not only that but you''ll have a hard time seeing the step facet pattern which defeats the purpose of getting an asscher cut in the first place.