half-moon cut question

[elmo]

The recent post about half-moons reminded me of a question I've had about how they are cut. Is the side that goes next to the center stone always straight, or are some half-moons cut with a slightly concave arc on the inside? I guess that would make a crescent not half-moon

.

The reason I ask is that it seems a straight edge would work best next to a rectangular center stone, but for an oval or cushion a slight arc might line up and look better.

 

[valeria101]

In theory... you are right. However, on that short a distance, the courvature does not pose lots of problems - the straight side gets under the girdle of the center stone. I guess trouble starts when the sides are desired to get as 'long' as the center stone and level with it (sort of diamond cloisonee ?! which I never encoutered done with concave outlines yet) so there is no room to hide the straight side.

I am actually quite curious - what would a setter do with those thin tips of the crescent cut?


PS: The names "half moon" and "crescent" are interchangeable! For example here (LINK) are some step cut sides called "crescent"...

 

[elmo]

Your post makes me think of another question - which is more common, brilliant or step-cut half-moons? It looks like two are step-cut and two brilliant-cut in your photos.

 

[valeria101]

Compared to trilliants or baguettes, these moons are already not all that common. The step cut ones seem to be less often encoutered... but I am not in a very good position to run stats on this

There is at least one brand of brilliant cut half moons, but I know of no specific label promoting the step cut ones consistently. Also, there are variations of the step cut half-moon that have no name at all: various short bullet shapes or such (David calls them "home plate") !

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Hi All,
AnA- great Crescent Cuts! I've never seen those.
As you pointed out, a slight overlap in the straight edge of a half moon is no problem.
I would set the pretty Crescent cuts with balls at the edge

Step VS Brilliant faceted:
I see more of the brilliant variety.
Here's an example of a larger step cut half moon type of stone

Here's a shot of one of the side stones prior to setting

This is a 2.89 center and .55tw side stones.
Personally, I think I made a bad choice of side stones here. I liked them when they were loose

But in the ring they just seem to.......become flat looking?

Needless to say, I'm not a big proponant of the step cut stones in most cases with a diamond center.
The Sapphire that AnA was kind enough to post needed the step cut sides because brilliant faceted moons would have outshone the center.

 

[valeria101]

Good point about the sapphire! I have been avoiding setting diamonds with my colored stones for ever, but never tried step cuts in the mix. One more thing to worry about, I guess

I get to see some of those half moons (thin, much more concave than the picture, looking technically impossible) flush or bezel set in thematic Muslim jewelry, but I have no idea where else they get used if at all. They look rather brilliant in that wider ceter portion but the tips are obviously glassy and darn fragile - the cut being a shallow one (however depth could be taken into account for the shape).

 

[MyDreamRing]

I finally met with my jeweler and had the chance to compare step cut half moons versus brilliant cut half moons.

I loved the shape of the step cut (they were longer and thiner) than the brilliant cut (they were shorter more bullet like), but the brilliance blew me away with the brilliant cut. They just had so much more sparkle and looked great next to my oval center stone. If I was going with an emerald cut I would say the step cut would work well, but with an oval or a round definitly the brilliant cut looks best.

I was suprised to see that the step cut although smaller in carat looked larger than the brilliant cut which was about 10pts larger. This was because the brilliant cut had much more depth than the step cut. Is this common with brilliant cuts half moons versus step cut half moons?

Also, many of the settings I have seen are made with step-cut half moons. Is there a reason for this? Why are they not used as much? Are the brilliant cuts just not that common? I was thinking of going with the martin flyer setting but I believe that they use step cut half moons. ???

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Hi Dreamer,


I always tell people NEVER to try and buy side stones like half moons based on weight. Buy the side stones based on dimensions.


As you've discovered, there are different profiles which produce different looks.


The step cut you've seen was shallower than the faceted pair, this is usual but not always the case.


Sometmes if a half moon is too wide, it looks bad, other times it could be too narrow- it all depends on the profile of the center stone.




Generally, my experience is that the faceted half moons are more common than the step cut variety.




I would guess that Martin Flyer would be able to use either.

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On 5/20/2004 11:27:18 AM MyDreamRing wrote:





I finally met with my jeweler and had the chance to compare step cut half moons versus brilliant cut half moons.

I loved the shape of the step cut (they were longer and thiner) than the brilliant cut (they were shorter more bullet like), but the brilliance blew me away with the brilliant cut. They just had so much more sparkle and looked great next to my oval center stone. If I was going with an emerald cut I would say the step cut would work well, but with an oval or a round definitly the brilliant cut looks best.

I was suprised to see that the step cut although smaller in carat looked larger than the brilliant cut which was about 10pts larger. This was because the brilliant cut had much more depth than the step cut. Is this common with brilliant cuts half moons versus step cut half moons?

Also, many of the settings I have seen are made with step-cut half moons. Is there a reason for this? Why are they not used as much? Are the brilliant cuts just not that common? I was thinking of going with the martin flyer setting but I believe that they use step cut half moons. ???
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