Old Mine Cut Emerald: a wide-table cushion, lighter in weight than in diamond

Brilliance 40 · Fire 25 · Scintillation 81 · in our census, where the T73 scores 78 · 39 · 80 in emerald

A wide table, a steep pavilion and a cushion outline. In emerald the Old Mine lets 60% of its light through the back and keeps about a third of the diamond version's fire.

See it in the simulatorGet the files
The Old Mine Cut in emerald, rendered at an angle in our 3D Gemstone Simulator under studio light
Rendered in our 3D Gemstone Simulator from the Old Mine Cut model, 1.00 ct, studio light.

Old Mine Cut Emerald

The old mine cut made the Peruzzi's facets more uniform on a rounder cushion. Our model has 74 facets, a wide 60.3% table, a 43.0° crown and a 44.38° pavilion, and stands 65.6% deep.

Of the three antique cushions we measure in emerald it sits in the middle: more light than the Peruzzi, less than the Mazarin. Its pavilion is steeper than emerald's 39.4° guide minimum, so the loss is not a shallow pavilion's doing.

Old Mine cut emerald: good or not? Pros and cons

Pros

Cons

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald and with the Old Mine Cut 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 Old Mine Cut 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.

Performance wheel: Old Mine Cut in emerald, against the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald as an outline. Solid white marks where it reaches further, hatching where it falls short. The scores are listed below.50100Global−17Brilliance−38Fire−14Scintillation+1Spread−2Symmetry−10Shape-norm−21Tilt+23

Against the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: ahead on 2, behind on 6.

  • Global56, the comparison 73, difference −17
  • Brilliance40, the comparison 78, difference −38
  • Fire25, the comparison 39, difference −14
  • Scintillation81, the comparison 80, difference +1
  • Spread98, the comparison 100, difference −2
  • Symmetry90, the comparison 100, difference −10
  • Shape-norm63, the comparison 84, difference −21
  • Tilt100, the comparison 77, difference +23
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 an Old Mine cut

Lighter than a diamond Old Mine

0.93 ct at 6.5 mm, against 1.21 ct for the same cut in diamond (−23%)

Beryl's specific gravity of 2.72 against diamond's 3.52 takes weight off every size: a 6.5 mm Old Mine is 0.93 ct here and 1.21 ct in diamond.

Emerald0.93 ctDiamond1.21 ct
A Old Mine Cut 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 Old Mine Cut page

The catch with an Old Mine emerald

About a third of the diamond version's fire

Fire 25 against 72 for the Old Mine Cut in diamond: 47 points lower

25 against 72. The Old Mine's broad facets give diamond plenty of colour; emerald's dispersion, 0.014, leaves little. It is also below the T73 in emerald, 39.

Old mine cut in emerald face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 25)

Old Mine Cut in emerald · Fire 25

Old mine cut in diamond face-up under a single bright light: a render from our simulator, its coloured flashes are the fire (score 72)

Old Mine Cut in diamond · Fire 72

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.

What helps: Emerald limits this in any antique cut. Of the cuts within 10 points of the T73's brilliance here, DG-Anteros Emerald gives the most fire, 52 at 86 brilliance.

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

About half the T73's light

Brilliance 40 against 78 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: 38 points lower

40 against 78. The diamond Old Mine returns 59; emerald takes about a third of that away.

Old mine cut in emerald face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, grey shows where it leaks (Brilliance 40)

Old Mine Cut in emerald · Brilliance 40

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)

T73 Round Brilliant in emerald · 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: The modern Cushion Cut Emerald, a descendant of this cut, returns 74; the Old European Cut Emerald, its round successor, 64.

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

Nearly three times the T73's leakage

Leakage 60 against 22 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: 38 points higher

60% of the light in our census escapes through the pavilion, against 22% for the T73 in emerald. The same cut in diamond loses 32%.

Old Mine Cut in emerald · Leakage 60

Old mine cut in emerald tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 63% of the face leaking0° · 63% leak
Old mine cut in emerald tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 59% of the face leaking10° · 59% leak
Old mine cut in emerald tilted 20 degrees: Light Return map, 55% of the face leaking20° · 55% leak
Old mine cut in emerald tilted 30 degrees: Light Return map, 41% of the face leaking30° · 41% leak

T73 Round Brilliant in emerald · Leakage 22

T73 round brilliant in emerald tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 11% of the face leaking0° · 11% leak
T73 round brilliant in emerald tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 34% of the face leaking10° · 34% leak
T73 round brilliant in emerald tilted 20 degrees: Light Return map, 32% of the face leaking20° · 32% leak
T73 round brilliant in emerald tilted 30 degrees: Light Return map, 37% of the face leaking30° · 37% leak
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 pavilion already clears 39.4°, so a steeper one is not what our data supports. The Old European Cut Emerald leaks 36% in emerald, the Cushion Cut Emerald 25%.

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

A slightly irregular pavilion

Symmetry 90 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in emerald: 10 points lower

Symmetry 90: the pavilion facets vary a little within the design. Our symmetry score depends on the plan alone, so the diamond Old Mine scores the same.

Old Mine Cut · 74 facets · Symmetry 90

T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Symmetry 100

Symmetry scores how regular the pavilion facets are within the design. Compare how evenly the facets repeat around each pavilion. Drawn from each cut's own model.

What helps: This is the design. The Mazarin Cut Emerald scores 100, the Old European Cut Emerald 100.

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

Who an Old Mine emerald suits

The Old Mine suits antique-style and reproduction emerald pieces where the cushion outline matters more than light. Expect a stone that returns about half a modern round's light.

For an antique cushion with more light, the Mazarin Cut Emerald; for a modern one, the Cushion Cut Emerald. An antique round in emerald does better still: see the Old European Cut Emerald.

Old Mine Cut Emerald: questions

Is an Old Mine cut good for emerald?

For light it trails: Brilliance 40 against 78 for the T73, and 60% leakage. Among antique cushions in emerald it sits between the Mazarin and the Peruzzi.

Old Mine or Old European cut emerald?

The Old European: Brilliance 64 against 40, leakage 36% against 60%, Fire 42 against 25.

Old Mine or modern cushion for an emerald?

The modern cushion returns far more light (74 against 40) and leaks less (25% against 60%). Fire is about level: 27 against 25.

What does a 6.5 mm Old Mine emerald weigh?

About 0.93 ct; in diamond the same Old Mine weighs 1.21 ct.

Get the Old Mine Cut files

6 formatsMillimetresWatertight

Old Mine Cut 3D files

The Old Mine Cut as exact geometry: 74 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
GemCad96 index

Old Mine Cut cutting files

The Old Mine Cut as a faceting design: 58 + 16 girdles = 74 facets, 96 index, 4-fold mirror-image symmetry, ready for the machine.

  • .ascGemCad design file, 96 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 Old Mine Cut: specifications, model and files

Other cuts in emerald

The Old Mine Cut in other gemstones