DG-Bowtie Emerald: Pros, Cons & Fire

DG-Bowtie keeps the original marquise geometry, bow-tie and all. Our model is 2.059 times as long as wide, with 87 facets and a 42.0° pavilion, and it is cut 93.8% deep: nearly as deep as it is wide. The site's cut notes give its purpose: a study piece beside the remodelled Marquise Cut Emerald, and a stone to render when a bow-tie is what you want to show.

In emerald the census pulls its two sides far apart. Fire is 70, just behind the oval's 71 for the most we measure in this stone; Brilliance is 13, the lowest of every cut we measure in emerald. We have no bow-tie metric, so the dark band the design is known for has no number here.

DG-Bowtie in emerald: pros and cons, measured

Pros

Far more fire than a round emerald 70 vs 39
Lighter than in diamond 2.44 vs 3.16 ct
A little more sparkle than a round 86 vs 80

Cons

The least light we measure in emerald 13 vs 78
Two-thirds of the light leaks 66 vs 22
Less steady when tipped than in diamond 63 vs 83
A smaller face for its weight than a round 92 vs 100

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald and with the DG-Bowtie 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.

All eight scores against the T73

At a glance: the DG-Bowtie in emerald (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald (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 emerald: ahead on 2, behind on 6.

Global50, the comparison 73, difference −23
Brilliance13, the comparison 78, difference −65
Fire70, the comparison 39, difference +31
Scintillation86, the comparison 80, difference +6
Spread87, the comparison 100, difference −13
Symmetry94, the comparison 100, difference −6
Shape-norm15, the comparison 84, difference −69
Tilt63, the comparison 77, difference −14

Face-up light census, a different measure from the Cut Grading Tool; Spread and Shape-norm above 100 sit on the ring. Spread is the census's estimate from depth alone; the face-up size in the pros and cons is measured from each model's outline.

Open it in the Cut Performance Wheel

What emerald gains in DG-Bowtie

Far more fire than a round emerald

Fire 70 against 39 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: 31 points higher

70 against 39 for the T73. Fire rates the colour in the light that returns to the eye, and in this stone very little returns: a vivid score on a small amount of light.

Dg-bowtie in emerald face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 70) — 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 emerald face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 39) — 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

Lighter than in diamond

2.44 ct at 6.5 mm, against 3.16 ct for the same cut in diamond (−23%)

A deep marquise carries a lot of weight for its outline. In emerald a DG-Bowtie 6.5 mm wide weighs 2.44 ct; in diamond it would weigh 3.16 ct.

A DG-Bowtie 6.5 mm across, weighed from the model's measured volume and each stone's specific gravity.

Try it yourself: Weights in all seven gemstones on the DG-Bowtie page

A little more sparkle than a round

Scintillation 86 against 80 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: 6 points higher

87 facets along a long outline, against 73 on the T73: Scintillation 86 against 80. The figure follows the plan and is the same in diamond.

DG-Bowtie · 87 facets · Scintillation 86

T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Scintillation 80

Scintillation follows the number of facets: more facets, more and smaller flashes as the stone moves. Count the facets in each crown. Drawn from each cut's own model.

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

The catch with a DG-Bowtie emerald

The least light we measure in emerald

Brilliance 13 against 78 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: 65 points lower

13 against 78. The diamond DG-Bowtie returns 27, already low, and emerald halves it. Its pavilion is above emerald's 39.4° guide minimum, so a shallow pavilion is not the cause.

Dg-bowtie in emerald face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 13) — 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 emerald face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 78) — 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: A steeper pavilion is not the answer for DG-Bowtie: at 42.0° it already clears 39.4°. The remodelled Marquise Cut Emerald returns 43 in emerald, the Oval Cut Emerald 55.

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

Two-thirds of the light leaks

Leakage 66 against 22 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: 44 points higher

66% of the light in our census leaves through the pavilion, against 22% for the T73 in emerald and 36% for DG-Bowtie in diamond.

Dg-bowtie in emerald tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 63% of the face leaking — 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.

Dg-bowtie in emerald tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 67% of the face leaking — 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.

What helps: The remodelled Marquise Cut Emerald leaks 54% in emerald and the Oval Cut Emerald 41%.

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

Less steady when tipped than in diamond

Tilt 63 against 83 for the DG-Bowtie in diamond: 20 points lower

Tipped by 20°, it keeps 63 of its small face-up return; the diamond version keeps 83.

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

A smaller face for its weight than a round

Face-up size 92 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald (T73 = 100): 8% less face-up area for the same weight

At 93.8% deep, much of the stone sits below the girdle, so each carat spreads less face than the T73's. The remodelled marquise, far shallower in our model, is level with the rectangle for the largest face we measure.

DG-Bowtie · 9.94 x 4.83 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 92

T73 Round Brilliant · 7.06 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 100

Both stones weigh 1.00 ct in emerald and are drawn to the same scale in millimetres, from each cut's own model. Face-up size is the outline's area per carat, with the T73 at 100: a deeper stone, or a rounder outline, spreads less area for its weight.

What helps: The remodelled Marquise Cut Emerald faces up at 121, against this cut's 92.

Try it yourself: See its size at 1.00 ct in emerald in the 3D Gemstone Simulator

Who a DG-Bowtie emerald suits

DG-Bowtie is a study piece, and in emerald a clear one: the most fire next to the oval, the least light of any cut we measure, and a bow-tie we cannot score. Choose it to render or to compare, not to set as a lively emerald.

For an emerald marquise, the remodelled Marquise Cut Emerald returns more light and faces up larger for its weight. For an elongated emerald with still more light, the Oval Cut Emerald.

DG-Bowtie Emerald: questions

Does a DG-Bowtie emerald show a bow-tie?

The design keeps the bow-tie of the original marquise; we have no bow-tie metric, so we put no number on it in emerald.

DG-Bowtie or Marquise for an emerald?

The Marquise returns more light (43 against 13), leaks less (54% against 66%) and faces up larger (121 against 92). DG-Bowtie has more fire, 70 against 51.

Why is DG-Bowtie so dark in emerald?

It returns 13 for light in our census, the lowest of every cut we measure in emerald, and 66% of the light leaks. In diamond it returns 27.

What does a DG-Bowtie emerald weigh?

At 6.5 mm wide and 2.059 times as long, about 2.44 ct; the same cut in diamond, 3.16 ct.

Get the DG-Bowtie Cut files

6 formatsMillimetresWatertight

DG-Bowtie Cut 3D files

The DG-Bowtie Cut as exact geometry: 87 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

GemCad64 index

DG-Bowtie Cut cutting files

The DG-Bowtie Cut as a faceting design: 67 + 20 girdles = 87 facets, 64 index, 2-fold mirror-image symmetry, ready for the machine.

.ascGemCad design file, 64 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

Emerald: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The DG-Bowtie: specifications, model and files

DG-Bowtie Emerald: nearly the most fire we measure in this stone