Trillion Cut Cubic Zirconia: Pros, Cons & Spread

Three gently bowed sides set our trillion apart from the straight-edged trilliant. Our model has 73 facets, a 56.6% table, a 36.0° crown and a 31.91° pavilion, and is only 50.7% deep.

That shallow build is the whole story in CZ. It spreads the stone wide and goes with strong fire, and its pavilion sits below the 38.1° guide minimum we give for round designs.

The spread and the fire come from that shape; so do the light it loses and the leak.

Is CZ a good fit for a trillion cut? Pros and cons

Pros

Faces up larger than a round of the same weight 107 vs 100
More fire than the T73 in CZ 93 vs 87
A little steadier than in diamond when tipped 90 vs 87

Cons

Heavier than diamond, but light for its width 1.31 vs 0.80 ct
Much less light than the T73 in CZ 73 vs 98
About a seventh of the light leaks 14 vs 1

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia and with the Trillion Cut in diamond. A difference counts from 3 points (Brilliance, Fire, Tilt, Leakage), 5 (Scintillation, Symmetry), 2 (Spread) or 5% (weight); Tilt counts as a pro only for a stone within 5 points of the brilliance it is compared with. How we measure.

All eight scores against the T73

At a glance: the Trillion Cut in cubic zirconia (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia (dashed): solid white where it reaches further, hatched where it falls short. Each pro and con is explained, with pictures, below.

Against the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: ahead on 3, level on 2, behind on 3.

Global84, the comparison 93, difference −9
Brilliance73, the comparison 98, difference −25
Fire93, the comparison 87, difference +6
Scintillation80, the comparison 80, difference 0
Spread107, the comparison 100, difference +7
Symmetry100, the comparison 100, difference 0
Shape-norm85, the comparison 106, difference −21
Tilt90, the comparison 87, difference +3

Face-up light census, a different measure from the Cut Grading Tool; Spread and Shape-norm above 100 sit on the ring.

Open it in the Cut Performance Wheel

What the trillion gives cubic zirconia

Faces up larger than a round of the same weight

Spread 107 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: 7 points higher

With so little depth, the trillion carries little weight below the girdle, so a stone of a given carat weight is wider across. The outlines at 1 ct, drawn to scale, show it.

Trillion Cut · 5.93 mm at 1.00 ct · Spread 107

T73 Round Brilliant · 5.49 mm at 1.00 ct · Spread 100

Both stones weigh 1.00 ct in cubic zirconia and are drawn to the same scale, from each cut's own model. Spread is face-up size per carat: a deeper stone carries more weight below the girdle and looks smaller for its weight.

Try it yourself: Compare the Spread spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel

More fire than the T73 in CZ

Fire 93 against 87 for the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: 6 points higher

Both stones here are CZ, so the extra colour belongs to the cut. Its broad, shallow profile sends the returning light out at wider angles.

Trillion cut in cubic zirconia face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 93) — Look at the coloured flashes: those are fire. Same light, same size, same face-up angle; rendered by our 3D Gemstone Simulator from each cut's own model.

T73 round brilliant in cubic zirconia face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 87) — Look at the coloured flashes: those are fire. Same light, same size, same face-up angle; rendered by our 3D Gemstone Simulator from each cut's own model.

Try it yourself: See the fire in the 3D Gemstone Simulator

A little steadier than in diamond when tipped

Tilt 90 against 87 for the Trillion Cut in diamond: 3 points higher

Tilted, the CZ keeps 90 of its face-up light against 87 for the diamond trillion. It starts from more light than the diamond does, 67, so the gain is real.

Trillion cut in cubic zirconia tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 16% of the face leaking — Tilt is how much of its own face-up light a stone keeps when tilted. Each frame is the Light Return map with the stone tilted away from you by the angle shown; grey is light leaving through the pavilion. The share under each frame is that picture's own.

Trillion cut in cubic zirconia tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 16% of the face leaking — Tilt is how much of its own face-up light a stone keeps when tilted. Each frame is the Light Return map with the stone tilted away from you by the angle shown; grey is light leaving through the pavilion. The share under each frame is that picture's own.

Try it yourself: Compare the Tilt spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel

The catch with a trillion CZ

Heavier than diamond, but light for its width

1.31 ct at 6.5 mm, against 0.80 ct for the same cut in diamond (+65%)

CZ adds 65% over diamond as always; the trillion's shallow build takes some of it back. At 6.5 mm across it is 1.31 ct, the lightest of the cuts on our CZ pages at that width.

A Trillion Cut 6.5 mm across, weighed from the model's measured volume and each stone's specific gravity.

What helps: Width is the measure that flatters it.

Try it yourself: Weights in all seven gemstones on the Trillion Cut page

Much less light than the T73 in CZ

Brilliance 73 against 98 for the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: 25 points lower

A pavilion this shallow lets light pass straight through instead of back up. The T73 is near the top of our scale in CZ, so this is one of the wider gaps on our CZ pages.

Trillion cut in cubic zirconia face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 73) — Red, green and blue = light returning to the eye; grey = light leaving through the pavilion. This is the head-on view; the Brilliance score averages a wider cone of light, so the score can differ from what one picture shows.

T73 round brilliant in cubic zirconia face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 98) — Red, green and blue = light returning to the eye; grey = light leaving through the pavilion. This is the head-on view; the Brilliance score averages a wider cone of light, so the score can differ from what one picture shows.

What helps: If light matters more than spread, the Trilliant Cut Cubic Zirconia returns 84 in a three-sided outline.

Try it yourself: Open this Light Return map in the simulator

About a seventh of the light leaks

Leakage 14 against 1 for the T73 Round Brilliant in cubic zirconia: 13 points higher

14% leaves through the back in our census, against 1% for the T73 in CZ. Diamond does no better with this cut: 13%.

What helps: We have not measured a steeper trillion, so we make no claim for one. In CZ the Trilliant Cut Cubic Zirconia leaks 11%.

Try it yourself: Tilt it yourself in the simulator's light map

Who a trillion CZ suits

The trillion suits a CZ where face-up size and colour count for more than brightness: a solitaire that looks generous for its weight.

For more light in three sides, the Trilliant Cut Cubic Zirconia. For brightness first, the T73 Round Brilliant Cubic Zirconia or DG-Rafaello Cubic Zirconia.

Its rounded corners are less exposed than a trilliant's points, but they still want a setting that covers them.

Trillion Cut Cubic Zirconia: questions

Does a trillion CZ look bigger than a round?

Carat for carat it does: a spread score of 107, where the T73 scores 100. At 6.5 mm it weighs 1.31 ct.

Is a trillion cut bright in cubic zirconia?

Not by the T73's standard: it returns 73 where the round returns 98, and lets 14% of the light through the back.

Does a trillion CZ have more fire than a round?

Yes: Fire 93 against 87 for the T73 in CZ.

Get the Trillion Cut files

6 formatsMillimetresWatertight

Trillion Cut 3D files

The Trillion Cut as exact geometry: 73 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD, rendering, printing and casting.

STEPExact faceted solid for CAD
3DMRhino, closed mesh on its own layer
STLWatertight mesh for printing and casting
OBJMesh for modelling and rendering
FBXBlender, 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, Unity, Unreal
GLBWeb, AR and quick previews

€9.99 · Personal useBuy the 3D files

GemCad120 index

Trillion Cut cutting files

The Trillion Cut as a faceting design: 61 + 12 girdles = 73 facets, 120 index, 3-fold symmetry, ready for the machine.

.ascGemCad design file, 120 index gear
.csvTier table: angles, indices and cutting order
DiagramPrintable faceting diagram

€9.99 · Personal useBuy the cutting files

Questions before you buy? Email us.

More gemstones and cuts

Cubic Zirconia: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The Trillion Cut: specifications, model and files

Trillion Cut Cubic Zirconia: faces up larger for its weight, with more fire than a round