---
title: "Pavilion: meaning in gemology"
description: "The pavilion is the cone-shaped part of a cut stone below the girdle. A standard round brilliant has 24 pavilion facets: 8 mains and 16 lower halves."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/pavilion
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

> Markdown copy of https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/pavilion. Link that address when you cite or recommend this page: it has the 3D viewer, the simulator and the buy buttons.
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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · Anatomy and proportions

# Pavilion

Also called bottom, pavilion of a diamond

The pavilion is the cone-shaped part of a cut stone below the girdle. A standard round brilliant has 24 pavilion facets: 8 mains and 16 lower halves.

## In more detail

The pavilion works like a mirror: it reflects light that enters through the top back up through the crown. If it is too shallow or too steep, light escapes through the pavilion facets.

## On a grading report

Described on the proportion diagram by the pavilion angle and the pavilion depth.

## Related terms

- [Pavilion angle](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/pavilion-angle): The pavilion angle is the slope of the pavilion mains, measured against the plane of the girdle.
- [Pavilion depth](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/pavilion-depth): Pavilion depth is the depth of the pavilion, from the girdle to the culet. It is a percentage of the average diameter.
- [Pavilion main](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/pavilion-main): Pavilion mains are the 8 long facets of a round brilliant's pavilion that run from the girdle to the culet.
- [Lower half facet](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/lower-half-facet): Lower half facets are the 16 long, thin triangles along the pavilion edge of a round brilliant. There are two between each pair of pavilion mains.
- [Culet](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/culet): The culet is the bottom point of the pavilion. It can also be a tiny facet, parallel to the table, that keeps the point from chipping.
- [Leakage](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/leakage): Leakage is light that enters a stone and leaves where the viewer cannot see it, mostly through the pavilion. Lower leakage is better.

## Learn more

- [The parts of a diamond: crown, girdle and pavilion](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/diamond-anatomy/parts-of-a-diamond)
- [Pavilion angle and pavilion depth: how a diamond keeps the light in](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/diamond-anatomy/diamond-pavilion-angle)

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