Teardrop Cut Strontium titanate: faces up larger for its weight
Brilliance 46 · Fire 96 · Scintillation 81 · in our census, where the T73 scores 93 · 98 · 80 in strontium titanate
How the Teardrop Cut handles light in strontium titanate, measured: brilliance 46, fire 96 and 28% leakage, set against the T73 in the same stone and against the same cut in diamond.
Light Return map of the Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate, face-up, from our own tracer at refractive index 2.409. Red, green and blue return light to the eye; gray leaks.
Teardrop Cut Strontium titanate
Strontium titanate has a refractive index of 2.409 and a dispersion of 0.190. Its critical angle, from the low end of that range, is 24.5°, so a round design needs a pavilion of at least 38.9° for head-on light to reflect off both sides of the pavilion and leave through the table. We trace it with one index, 2.409, the midpoint of the published range, and a fire spread of 0.163, 0.86 of the published dispersion. Every picture here is our Light Return tracer at 2.409, and every figure is from the same light census that scores the other gemstones; the 3D Gemstone Simulator shows the Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate live. Strontium titanate has nearly diamond's refractive index (2.409 against 2.417) with about four times its dispersion (0.190 against 0.044): light takes much the same paths as in diamond, and far more of it splits into color.
The Teardrop Cut has 74 facets and a total depth of 60.0% of its width; its pavilion mains sit at 38.5°. In strontium titanate, the census returns 46 of 100 for brilliance and 96 for fire, against 93 and 98 for the T73, our benchmark, in the same stone; the same Teardrop Cut in diamond reads 46 and 89.
Is strontium titanate good in a Teardrop? Pros and cons, measured
Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate and with the Teardrop 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 Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate (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 strontium titanate: ahead on 2, behind on 6.
Global73, the comparison 94, difference −21
Brilliance46, the comparison 93, difference −47
Fire96, the comparison 98, difference −2
Scintillation81, the comparison 80, difference +1
Spread101, the comparison 100, difference +1
Symmetry98, the comparison 100, difference −2
Shape-norm54, the comparison 100, difference −46
Tilt79, the comparison 92, difference −13
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; these are the same census figures as our Cut Performance Index.
What the Teardrop Cut gains in strontium titanate
Faces up larger for its weight
Face-up size 116 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate (T73 = 100): 16% more face-up area for the same weight
Face-up size is the outline's area per carat, measured from each model (T73 = 100): 116 for the Teardrop Cut against 100 for the T73. The same volume spread over a longer or shallower outline shows more face for the weight; it is the same in every stone, because specific gravity scales every cut alike.
Teardrop Cut · 7.63 x 5.28 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 116
T73 Round Brilliant · 5.72 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 100
Both stones weigh 1.00 ct in strontium titanate and are drawn to the same scale in millimeters, 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.
Fire 96 against 89 for the Teardrop Cut in diamond: 7 points higher
Fire is the share of the returned light that splits into color at the exit facet: the census traces each exit again at the refractive index minus and plus the fire spread (0.163 in strontium titanate) and counts a ray as fire when the two directions differ by more than 0.6°. The Teardrop Cut reads 96 against 89 for the same cut in diamond. The figure is the census's; the 3D Gemstone Simulator renders strontium titanate's fire live.
The fire figure is the census's, traced at the refractive index minus and plus the fire spread. See the fire in the 3D Gemstone Simulator: the Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate under the sunny-day lighting.
What the Teardrop Cut gives up in strontium titanate
Returns less light than the T73 in strontium titanate
Brilliance 46 against 93 for the T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate: 47 points lower
Brilliance is the share of the 3,200 census rays that enter the stone and come back out of the crown towards the viewer. In strontium titanate, whose critical angle is 24.5°, the Teardrop Cut returns 46 of 100 and the T73 93. The Teardrop Cut's pavilion mains sit at 38.5°, the T73's at 40.8°. The maps below show where each stone's light returns from and where it leaks.
Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate · Brilliance 46
T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate · Brilliance 93
Red, green and blue = light returning to the eye; gray = leakage, light that leaves heading down or stays inside. 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 DG-M5 reads 97 for brilliance in strontium titanate, the best of the cuts we score there.
1.87 ct at 6.5 mm, against 1.28 ct for the same cut in diamond (+46%)
Weight follows specific gravity: 5.13 for strontium titanate against 3.52 for diamond, so the same model at the same size weighs 1.87 ct here and 1.28 ct in diamond, 6.5 mm across. Nothing about the light changes with it.
A Teardrop Cut 6.5 mm across, weighed from the model's measured volume and each stone's specific gravity.
Leaks more light than the T73 in strontium titanate
Leakage 28 against 2 for the T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate: 26 points higher
Leakage is the share of the census rays that enter the stone and leave through the pavilion, or through the crown heading down. The Teardrop Cut leaks 28% in strontium titanate against 2% for the T73 in strontium titanate. Grey in the maps below is leaking light; the share under each picture is that picture's own.
Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate · Leakage 28
0° · 34% leak
10° · 35% leak
20° · 37% leak
30° · 44% leak
T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate · Leakage 2
0° · 4% leak
10° · 2% leak
20° · 9% leak
30° · 13% leak
Each frame is the Light Return map with the stone tilted away from you by the angle shown; gray is leakage. The share under each frame is that picture's own.
What helps:the T105 Round Brilliant reads 1% for leakage in strontium titanate, the best of the cuts we score there.
Tilt 79 against 92 for the T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate: 13 points lower
Tilt is how much of its face-up brilliance a stone keeps when the census tilts it 20° about its long axis, with 2,200 rays. The Teardrop Cut keeps 79 against 92 for the T73. The tilt strips below show the maps at 0°, 10°, 20° and 30°, with each picture's own leak share under it.
Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate · Tilt 79
0° · 34% leak
10° · 35% leak
20° · 37% leak
30° · 44% leak
T73 Round Brilliant in strontium titanate · Tilt 92
0° · 4% leak
10° · 2% leak
20° · 9% leak
30° · 13% leak
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; gray is leakage. The share under each frame is that picture's own.
What helps:the Portuguese Bird's Nest Cut reads 100 for tilt in strontium titanate, the best of the cuts we score there.
Our verdict on the Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate
Pick the Teardrop Cut in strontium titanate for this: it faces up larger for its weight and shows more fire than in diamond. The catch: it returns less light than the T73, weighs more than in diamond, leaks more light than the T73 and loses more of its light when tilted.
If that catch matters more to you, the DG-M5 reads 97 for brilliance in strontium titanate, the best of the cuts we score there.
Every figure on this page is from our light census, traced at one refractive index: a simulation of the geometry, not a grading report. The 3D files and cutting files below are the same Teardrop Cut model we traced.
Teardrop Cut Strontium titanate: questions
Is the Teardrop a good cut for strontium titanate?
In our census the Teardrop Cut returns 46 of 100 for brilliance and 96 for fire in strontium titanate, against 93 and 98 for the T73 in the same stone. Against that round and against the same cut in diamond it has 2 pros and 4 cons by our thresholds; the summary above names them.
What pavilion angle does strontium titanate need?
At least 38.9° for a round design: strontium titanate's critical angle is 24.5°, from the low end of its refractive index range, and head-on light has to reflect off both sides of the pavilion and leave through the table. The Teardrop Cut's pavilion mains sit at 38.5°.
How much does a Teardrop weigh in strontium titanate?
At 6.5 mm across, 1.87 ct in strontium titanate, against 1.28 ct for the same cut in diamond (+46%): strontium titanate's specific gravity is 5.13, diamond's 3.52.
Can I see the Teardrop in strontium titanate in 3D?
Yes: the 3D Gemstone Simulator renders it live, with strontium titanate's own refractive index and dispersion. Strontium titanate is traced by the same light census as the other gemstones, with its refractive index and fire spread derived from published values, so its scores are on the same scale; the pictures here are our Light Return tracer, and the Cut Performance Wheel sets it against any other cut and stone.
Get the Teardrop Cut files
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Teardrop Cut 3D files
The Teardrop Cut as exact geometry: 74 planar facets, real-world scale, ready for CAD,
rendering, printing and casting.
