Baguette Cut Tourmaline: Pros, Cons and Scores

Tourmaline has a refractive index of 1.603 to 1.655 and a dispersion of 0.017. Its critical angle, from the low end of that range, is 38.6°, so a round design needs a pavilion of at least 38.6° for head-on light to reflect off both sides of the pavilion and leave through the table. We trace it with one index, 1.629, the midpoint of the published range, and a fire spread of 0.015, 0.86 of the published dispersion. Every picture here is our Light Return tracer at 1.603, and every figure is from the same light census that scores the other gemstones; the 3D Gemstone Simulator shows the Baguette Cut in tourmaline live. Tourmaline is strongly doubly refractive (birefringence up to 0.040), so its back facets can look doubled. Our census traces one index (1.629), so the doubling is not in these figures.

The Baguette Cut has 21 facets and a total depth of 66.8% of its width; its pavilion mains sit at 32.4°. In tourmaline, the census returns 47 of 100 for brilliance and 57 for fire, against 86 and 50 for the T73, our benchmark, in the same stone; the same Baguette Cut in diamond reads 40 and 62.

Is tourmaline good in a Baguette? Pros and cons, measured

Pros

Lighter than the same cut in diamond 3.23 vs 3.64 ct
Faces up larger for its weight 108 vs 100
More fire than the T73 in tourmaline 57 vs 50

Cons

A less regular pavilion than the T73 39 vs 100
Loses more light when tilted than in diamond 53 vs 100
Returns less light than the T73 in tourmaline 47 vs 86
Fewer facets, less sparkle 43 vs 80

Compared with the T73 Round Brilliant in tourmaline 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.

All eight scores against the T73

At a glance: the Baguette Cut in tourmaline (white) against the T73 Round Brilliant in tourmaline (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 tourmaline: ahead on 1, behind on 7.

Global50, the comparison 78, difference −28
Brilliance47, the comparison 86, difference −39
Fire57, the comparison 50, difference +7
Scintillation43, the comparison 80, difference −37
Spread97, the comparison 100, difference −3
Symmetry39, the comparison 100, difference −61
Shape-norm62, the comparison 93, difference −31
Tilt53, the comparison 74, difference −21

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 Baguette Cut gains in tourmaline

Lighter than the same cut in diamond

3.23 ct at 6.5 mm, against 3.64 ct for the same cut in diamond (−11%)

Weight follows specific gravity: 3.13 for tourmaline against 3.52 for diamond, so the same model at the same size weighs 3.23 ct here and 3.64 ct in diamond, 6.5 mm across. Nothing about the light changes with it.

A Baguette Cut 6.5 mm across, weighed from the model's measured volume and each stone's specific gravity.

Try it yourself: Weights in every gemstone on the Baguette Cut page

Faces up larger for its weight

Face-up size 108 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in tourmaline (T73 = 100): 8% more face-up area for the same weight

Face-up size is the outline's area per carat, measured from each model (T73 = 100): 108 for the Baguette 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.

Baguette Cut · 8.69 x 4.40 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 108

T73 Round Brilliant · 6.74 mm at 1.00 ct · Face-up size 100

Both stones weigh 1.00 ct in tourmaline 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.

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

More fire than the T73 in tourmaline

Fire 57 against 50 for the T73 Round Brilliant in tourmaline: 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 (0.015 in tourmaline) and counts a ray as fire when the two directions differ by more than 0.6°. The Baguette Cut reads 57 against 50 for the T73 in tourmaline. The figure is the census's; the 3D Gemstone Simulator renders tourmaline'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 Baguette Cut in tourmaline under the sunny-day lighting.

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

What the Baguette Cut gives up in tourmaline

A less regular pavilion than the T73

Symmetry 39 against 100 for the T73 Round Brilliant in tourmaline: 61 points lower

Symmetry reads how evenly the pavilion facets of each design family are cut: 100 − 6 × their scatter in degrees. The Baguette Cut reads 39, the T73 100. It depends on the geometry alone, so it is the same in every stone.

Baguette Cut · 21 facets · Symmetry 39

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.

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

Loses more light when tilted than in diamond

Tilt 53 against 100 for the Baguette Cut in diamond: 47 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 Baguette Cut keeps 53 against 100 for the same cut in diamond. The tilt strips below show the maps at 0°, 10°, 20° and 30°, with each picture's own leak share under it.

Baguette cut in tourmaline tilted 0 degrees: Light Return map, 36% of the face leaking — 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.

Baguette cut in tourmaline tilted 10 degrees: Light Return map, 56% of the face leaking — 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 DG-Miliano reads 86 for tilt in tourmaline, the best of the cuts we score there.

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

Returns less light than the T73 in tourmaline

Brilliance 47 against 86 for the T73 Round Brilliant in tourmaline: 39 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 tourmaline, whose critical angle is 38.6°, the Baguette Cut returns 47 of 100 and the T73 86. The Baguette Cut's pavilion mains sit at 32.4°, the T73's at 40.8°. The maps below show where each stone's light returns from and where it leaks.

Baguette cut in tourmaline face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, gray shows where it leaks (Brilliance 47) — 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.

T73 round brilliant in tourmaline face-up Light Return map: red, green and blue show where the light returns from, gray shows where it leaks (Brilliance 86) — 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 96 for brilliance in tourmaline, the best of the cuts we score there.

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

Fewer facets, less sparkle

Scintillation 43 against 80 for the T73 Round Brilliant in tourmaline: 37 points lower

Scintillation follows the number of facets the stone shows: 100 × (1 − e^(−facets / 45)). The Baguette Cut has 21 facets and the T73 73, so 43 against 80. It depends on the geometry alone, so it is the same in every stone.

Baguette Cut · 21 facets · Scintillation 43

T73 Round Brilliant · 73 facets · Scintillation 80

Scintillation follows the number of facets: more facets, more and smaller flashes as the stone moves. Compare the facet counts under the drawings; each drawing shows only the crown. Drawn from each cut's own model.

What helps: the DG-Miliano reads 98 for scintillation in tourmaline, the best of the cuts we score there.

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

Our verdict on the Baguette Cut in tourmaline

Pick the Baguette Cut in tourmaline for this: it weighs less than in diamond, faces up larger for its weight and shows more fire than the T73. The catch: it has a less regular pavilion than the T73, loses more light when tilted than in diamond, returns less light than the T73 and has fewer facets to sparkle with.

If that catch matters more to you, the DG-Miliano reads 86 for tilt in tourmaline, 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 Baguette Cut model we traced.

Baguette Cut Tourmaline: questions

Is the Baguette a good cut for tourmaline?

In our census the Baguette Cut returns 47 of 100 for brilliance and 57 for fire in tourmaline, against 86 and 50 for the T73 in the same stone. Against that round and against the same cut in diamond it has 3 pros and 4 cons by our thresholds; the summary above names them.

What pavilion angle does tourmaline need?

At least 38.6° for a round design: tourmaline's critical angle is 38.6°, 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 Baguette Cut's pavilion mains sit at 32.4°.

How much does a Baguette weigh in tourmaline?

At 6.5 mm across, 3.23 ct in tourmaline, against 3.64 ct for the same cut in diamond (-11%): tourmaline's specific gravity is 3.13, diamond's 3.52.

Can I see the Baguette in tourmaline in 3D?

Yes: the 3D Gemstone Simulator renders it live, with tourmaline's own refractive index and dispersion. Tourmaline 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.

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More gemstones and cuts

Tourmaline: optical properties and the top ten cuts · The Baguette Cut: specifications, model and files

Baguette Cut Tourmaline: lighter than the same cut in diamond