---
title: "Face-up size: meaning in gemology"
description: "Face-up size is how large a stone looks from above for its weight. Two stones of the same carat weight can differ in face-up size because of their depth and…"
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/face-up-size
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · How we measure

# Face-up size

Also called face-up size per carat, spread (trade)

Face-up size is how large a stone looks from above for its weight. Two stones of the same carat weight can differ in face-up size because of their depth and shape.

## In more detail

A deep stone keeps more weight below the girdle, where it adds nothing to the face-up outline. A less dense material also faces up larger at the same weight. A 1.00 ct T73 is 6.48 mm across in diamond and 6.67 mm in moissanite.

## How we measure it

Our gemstone cut pages measure face-up size per carat from each model's outline. The Spread score on the Cut Performance Wheel is a separate estimate, from depth alone.

## Related terms

- [Spread (light performance)](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/spread-score): Spread is an estimate of a cut's face-up size for its weight, compared with a stone 61.5% deep. Above 100 means the cut faces up larger for its weight than that reference.
- [Specific gravity](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/specific-gravity): Specific gravity compares a stone's weight with the weight of the same volume of water. It decides how much a stone of a given size weighs.
- [Carat weight](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/carat-weight): Carat weight is the weight of a gemstone. One carat is 200 milligrams, a fifth of a gram, and it has 100 points.
- [Total depth](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/total-depth): Total depth is the height of a stone from table to culet as a percentage of its average diameter. It equals crown height + girdle thickness + pavilion depth.

## Learn more

- [T73 Round Brilliant Diamond: the T57's light, with more scintillation and a sixteen-facet girdle](https://digitalgemology.com/gemstones/diamond/t73-round-brilliant)
- [Cut Performance Wheel and cut-page scores](https://digitalgemology.com/about/how-we-measure/performance-wheel)
- [Moissanite vs diamond: same size, different carat weight](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/diamond-vs-moissanite/moissanite-vs-diamond-carat-size)

[All 328 terms](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary)