Brilliance 53 · Fire 53 · Scintillation 43 · in our census, where the T73 scores 94 · 37 · 80 in ruby
A slim step cut with few facets: in ruby it has more fire than a round, 53 to 37, and a Face-up size of 108, but less Brilliance, Scintillation and Tilt.
Long, narrow and step cut, the baguette most often flanks a larger centre stone. Ours has 21 facets on an outline with a length-to-width ratio of 1.974, a 32.37° pavilion and 66.8% total depth.
Set against the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby, it wins on fire and on face-up size and trails on light, leakage, sparkle, symmetry and tilt. Set against its diamond twin, the ruby baguette returns more light face-up, 53 against 40, but has less fire, 53 against 62, and keeps far less of its light once tipped.
Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby and with the Baguette 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.
At a glance: the Baguette Cut in ruby (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby (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 ruby: ahead on 1, behind on 7.
Fire 53 against 37 for the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby: 16 points higher
The round breaks its light into many small reflections; the baguette's few long steps send it back in larger pieces, and our census finds a larger share of that light split into colour. It is still a ruby's fire: the same baguette in diamond scores 62.
Baguette Cut in ruby · Fire 53
T73 Round Brilliant in ruby · Fire 37
Face-up size 108 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby (T73 = 100): 8% more face-up area for the same weight
Face-up size compares outline area per carat, with the T73 at 100. A baguette and a T73 of equal weight do not cover equal ground: the baguette shows a little more, and in a channel a row of them covers more length for its carats.
Baguette Cut · 8.00 x 4.05 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 108
T73 Round Brilliant · 6.21 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 100
Try it yourself: See its size at 1.00 ct in ruby in the 3D Gemstone Simulator
Symmetry 39 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby: 61 points lower
Symmetry, in our census, scores how alike a pavilion's repeated facets are. A baguette's steps differ between the long sides and the short ends, so few of them repeat. No cut on our ruby pages scores lower; it describes the design, not the workmanship.
Baguette Cut · 21 facets · Symmetry 39
T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Symmetry 100
What helps: It is the design. The Emerald Cut Ruby scores 64 and the Rectangle Cut Ruby 100, both on more regular steps.
Try it yourself: Compare the Symmetry spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Tilt 57 against 100 for the Baguette Cut in diamond: 43 points lower
Face-up the ruby shows less grey than the diamond; by 30° it shows more. In its strip the grey grows at every step, while the diamond's stays almost level. Corundum's wider critical angle, 34.6°, gives a tipped ruby more facets that light can pass through.
Baguette Cut in ruby · Tilt 57
Baguette Cut in diamond · Tilt 100
Try it yourself: Compare the Tilt spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Brilliance 53 against 94 for the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby: 41 points lower
Light dropping straight through the table meets a pavilion step at 32.37°, under ruby's critical angle, and part of it carries on out of the back.
Baguette Cut in ruby · Brilliance 53
T73 Round Brilliant in ruby · Brilliance 94
What helps: The pavilion sits below ruby's guide minimum of 36.4° for round designs, but we have not measured a steeper baguette, so we cannot say what one would return. Of the elongated step cuts we measure in ruby, the Emerald Cut Ruby returns the most light, 65.
Try it yourself: Open this Light Return map in the simulator
Scintillation 43 against 80 for the T73 Round Brilliant in ruby: 37 points lower
With 21 facets against the T73's 73, the baguette has little to sparkle with. Only the triangle scores lower for scintillation in ruby.
Baguette Cut · 21 facets · Scintillation 43
T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Scintillation 80
What helps: This follows the facet plan. The Emerald Cut Ruby, with more steps, scores 72.
Try it yourself: Compare the Scintillation spoke in the Cut Performance Wheel
Choose the baguette for the work it usually does: flanking a centre stone or lining a channel, where straight edges matter more than light. Face-up it returns 53, more than a diamond baguette; tipped, it gives much of that up.
As a centre stone on its own, pick something else. The Emerald Cut Ruby keeps the step-cut look with more light, and DG-M5 Ruby returns the most of any cut we measure in ruby, 100.
As a side stone it has two real gains, fire 53 against the round's 37 and a larger face per carat. For light it is weak: Brilliance 53 against 94.
Not much: with 21 facets the baguette scores 43 for scintillation, against 80 for the T73. It flashes in broad planes rather than glittering.
The ruby returns more light face-up (53 against 40); the diamond has more fire (62 against 53) and keeps its light when tilted (100 against 57).
About 4.13 ct, because a baguette that wide is long too: our model's length-to-width ratio is 1.974. Cut in diamond, the same stone weighs 3.64 ct.
The Baguette Cut as exact geometry: 21 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD, rendering, printing and casting.
The Baguette Cut as a faceting design: 17 + 4 girdles = 21 facets, 96 index, 2-fold mirror-image symmetry, ready for the machine.
Questions before you buy? Email us.
Ruby: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The Baguette Cut: specifications, model and files