Brilliance 12 · Fire 97 · Scintillation 51 · in our census, where the T73 scores 93 · 78 · 80 in diamond
A long, double-sided step cut. In diamond it has the most fire we measure and returns less light than any other cut; its back is a window by design, and the census counts that light as lost.
Picture a long hexagon with square points, stepped identically above and below a six-facet girdle, with a table on top and an equal flat underneath. In our model that is 32 facets, a 50.0% table, a 36.0° crown over a 36.0° pavilion, and a depth of 45.3%.
A census note on this cut: its back flat is a window by design. The figures on its cut page leave that window out; the census behind this page counts the light through it as lost, so the brilliance and leakage here include it.
It was drawn for emerald, and finished on both faces so it can hang in a pendant or sit in an open setting with its back on view. In diamond it wins on fire and face-up size and loses on brilliance, leakage, scintillation and symmetry.
Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond. A difference counts from 3 points (Brilliance, Fire, Tilt, Leakage), 5 (Scintillation, Symmetry), 4% (face-up size per carat) 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.
At a glance: the DG-Elongated Hexagon in diamond (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond (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 diamond: ahead on 3, behind on 5.
Fire 97 against 78 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 19 points higher
No cut we measure in diamond scores higher. Fire is a share of the light that returns, not of all the light, so a stone that returns little can still score at the top; here it describes colour in a small amount of light.
DG-Elongated Hexagon in diamond · Fire 97
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Fire 78
Face-up size 107 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond (T73 = 100): 7% more face-up area for the same weight
At the same carat weight its outline covers more area than the T73's. The profile is shallow, 45.3% against the T73's 61.7%, and a flat back carries no pointed pavilion.
DG-Elongated Hexagon · 9.08 x 5.34 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 107
T73 Round Brilliant · 6.48 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 100
Try it yourself: See its size at 1.00 ct in diamond in the 3D Gemstone Simulator
Brilliance 12 against 93 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 81 points lower
No cut returns less in diamond. Light that reaches the back flat head-on passes straight through, and the census counts it as lost. Its 36.0° steps sit above diamond's 24.4° critical angle, so the window, not the steps, is the likely main loss.
DG-Elongated Hexagon in diamond · Brilliance 12
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Brilliance 93
What helps: The window is part of the design, so no change of angles removes it. For an elongated step cut that returns light in diamond, the Emerald Cut Diamond returns 55; for the same cut in emerald, see DG-Elongated Hexagon Emerald.
Try it yourself: Open this Light Return map in the simulator
Leakage 73 against 2 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 71 points higher
73% of the light leaves through the back in our census, the most of any cut we measure in diamond; the T73 loses 2%. This is the window at work, as the census note above explains.
DG-Elongated Hexagon in diamond · Leakage 73
T73 Round Brilliant in diamond · Leakage 2
What helps: Size does not change the share, and the window stays at any size. The Emerald Cut Diamond loses 25%.
Try it yourself: Tilt it yourself in the simulator's light map
Scintillation 51 against 80 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 29 points lower
With 32 facets in plain steps, against the T73's 73, the census finds few surfaces to flash.
DG-Elongated Hexagon · 32 facets · Scintillation 51
T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Scintillation 80
What helps: Plain steps set this. A brilliant on a long outline flashes far more: the Marquise Cut Diamond reaches 86.
Try it yourself: Compare the Scintillation spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Symmetry 73 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in diamond: 27 points lower
Our symmetry score groups the facets behind the girdle by angle and checks how evenly each group sits about the centre. On a long hexagon, steps of one angle lie at different distances along the sides and at the points.
DG-Elongated Hexagon · 32 facets · Symmetry 73
T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Symmetry 100
What helps: This is the design. The Rectangle Cut Diamond keeps a long step-cut outline with Symmetry 100.
Try it yourself: Compare the Symmetry spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Choose DG-Elongated Hexagon in diamond for a stone that reads the same from either side, in a pendant or an open setting, and accept that most of its light passes through. As a light-return diamond, it is the weakest we measure.
For a long step cut with far more light in diamond, the Emerald Cut Diamond (55); for the most light among elongated diamonds we measure, the Marquise Cut Diamond.
Brilliance 12 against 93 for the T73, with 73% of the light leaking; the census counts light through its back window as lost.
Yes: Fire 97 against 78, the highest we measure in diamond, from a stone that returns little light.
No. We drew it for emerald; this page measures the same model in diamond.
1.80 ct, for a hexagon whose length runs 1.7 times its width.
The DG-Elongated Hexagon Cut as exact geometry: 32 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD, rendering, printing and casting.
The DG-Elongated Hexagon Cut as a faceting design: 26 + 6 girdles = 32 facets, 96 index, 2-fold mirror-image symmetry, ready for the machine.
Questions before you buy? Email us.
Diamond: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The DG-Elongated Hexagon: specifications, model and files