Cushion Cut
The romantic pillow shape with vintage appeal — and Brian Gavin's patented Hearts & Arrows cushion. A favourite shape for fancy color diamonds.
Romance Meets Performance
The cushion cut — named for its soft, pillow-like outline with rounded corners — bridges the romance of antique diamond cutting with modern performance standards. The shape has grown steadily in popularity over the past two decades, prized for its warm, romantic light pattern and its versatility across both colorless and fancy color diamonds.
Its broad facets and generous depth help concentrate color, which is why the cushion is one of the most frequently chosen shapes for pink, yellow, and blue diamonds.
Brian Gavin's cushion cut — protected by U.S. Design Patent D639,202 — was engineered to display a true Hearts & Arrows pattern, a level of optical symmetry usually associated only with round brilliants.
From Old Mine to Modern Cushion
The cushion cut's ancestry traces directly to the Old Mine Cut of the 18th and 19th centuries — the dominant diamond shape before modern bruting machines enabled truly round diamonds. Those early cushion-shaped brilliants featured high crowns, small tables, large culets, and chunky facets that produced warm, candlelight-era sparkle.
As cutting technology advanced in the 20th century, the round brilliant overtook the cushion in popularity. But beginning in the 1990s, a revival of interest in vintage aesthetics — combined with new cutting techniques that improved the cushion's optical performance — returned this shape to prominence.
Today's modern cushion cuts retain the romantic outline of their antique predecessors while delivering markedly improved brilliance and fire through refined proportions and facet arrangements.
Facet Structure
Cushion cuts feature a rounded-square or rounded-rectangular outline with 58–64 facets, depending on the specific faceting style:
Crown: Table facet, 4 kite-shaped bezel facets, 4 star facets, and 8 upper girdle facets — plus additional facets in modified versions.
Pavilion: 4 main pavilion facets, 8 lower girdle facets, and optional additional facets in modified brilliant patterns.
The rounded corners distinguish the cushion from the princess cut's sharp corners, providing both aesthetic softness and practical durability — rounded corners are less prone to chipping.
Hearts & Arrows in a Fancy Shape
True Hearts & Arrows precision — the hallmark of the finest round brilliants — was long considered impractical in fancy shapes. The cushion's squared outline creates optical challenges that prevent standard cutting techniques from achieving a clean eight-heart, eight-arrow pattern.
Brian Gavin addressed this through years of research and development, producing a cushion cut with Hearts & Arrows optical symmetry, protected by U.S. Design Patent D639,202. The design requires:
- Extraordinary facet precision — each facet angle and alignment calibrated to tolerances normally reserved for rounds
- Modified facet geometry — adapted from round brilliant principles to account for the cushion's four-fold symmetry
- Balanced light performance — proportions selected for brilliance, fire, and scintillation within the cushion outline
The result: a cushion cut that delivers the romantic warmth collectors love with the optical precision that serious buyers look for. You can see how that precision is verified on our ASET & ray tracing page.
"Everyone told me Hearts & Arrows couldn't be done in a cushion. That's exactly the kind of challenge I live for. It took years of research and cutting experiments, but we proved it's possible — and the optical performance speaks for itself."— Brian Gavin, Fifth-Generation Diamantaire
Two Distinct Faceting Styles
GIA reports describe cushion cuts under two faceting styles with noticeably different optical character:
Cushion Brilliant: A brilliant facet arrangement adapted to the cushion outline. It produces broader, bolder light flashes reminiscent of antique cushions, without the "crushed ice" look. This is the style Brian Gavin's patented H&A cushion uses.
Cushion Modified Brilliant: Adds an extra row of facets on the pavilion, creating smaller, more numerous reflections. It can produce a "crushed ice" appearance. It is the more common style in the market; which look is preferable comes down to personal taste.
Many collectors favour the cushion brilliant for its more distinctive optical character — and because it is the style that allows Hearts & Arrows precision.
Why Cushions Suit Fancy Color
The cushion cut's large facets and depth of body create good conditions for color saturation, which makes it a leading choice for fancy color diamonds:
- Yellow diamonds: Cushions are among the most popular shapes for strong yellows, because the shape concentrates body color
- Pink diamonds: Cutters of pink rough often choose cushion and radiant outlines to hold as much color as possible
- Blue diamonds: Cushion and emerald cuts are frequent choices for blues for the same color-saturating reasons
Depth lets light travel longer paths through the colored material, intensifying the color seen face-up. Because GIA grades fancy color face-up, the same rough cut as a cushion can grade stronger than it would as a round brilliant — for example, Fancy Vivid rather than Fancy Intense.
No Standardized Cut Grade
Like all fancy shapes, cushion cuts receive no GIA cut grade, so expert evaluation is essential.
Typical guideline ranges:
- Table: about 56–62%
- Depth: about 63–68% (slightly deeper than rounds, which helps color)
- Polish/Symmetry: Excellent/Excellent minimum
Square Cushion
Classic pillow shape. Most popular for solitaires. Maximizes the romantic, symmetrical aesthetic.
Slightly Elongated
Subtle elongation creates finger-flattering proportions. Excellent balance of tradition and elegance.
Elongated Cushion
Distinctly rectangular. Creates a more dramatic, contemporary look while retaining the cushion's soft corners.
Excellent for Fancy Colors
Concentrates color saturation, making it one of the first shapes considered for important fancy color diamonds.
Vintage Warmth
Soft, rounded corners and broad light flashes create a warm, romantic aesthetic that round brilliants don't replicate.
Every Setting Style
Works beautifully in halos, solitaires, three-stone, and vintage-inspired designs. Square or elongated options for every taste.
Better Per-Carat Pricing
Typically priced below round brilliants of comparable quality, partly because the shape retains more weight from the rough.
Our Cushion Standards
- ✓ Patented Hearts & Arrows cushion cuts (U.S. Design Patent D639,202)
- ✓ Cushion Brilliant preferred over Cushion Modified Brilliant for optical character
- ✓ GIA certified with full color and clarity documentation
- ✓ Expert cut evaluation by Brian Gavin (no GIA cut grade exists for cushions)
- ✓ Type classification verified for all significant stones
For fancy color cushions, we concentrate on Fancy Intense and Fancy Vivid grades in the 1–5 carat range, where we see the strongest collector demand. Read more in our diamond investment guide.
Each Shape Tells a Different Story
- Round Brilliant — Maximum brilliance; The Gavin Effect® patented cut
- Emerald Cut — Sophisticated step-cut elegance; patented light performance
- Oval Cut — Elongated brilliance; appears larger for carat weight
- Pear Cut — Elegant teardrop; versatile and flattering
- Radiant Cut — Brilliant fire meets geometric outline
- Princess Cut — Modern square brilliant; exceptional scintillation
- Marquise Cut — Royal heritage; maximizes carat weight appearance
- Old Mine Cut — Historic hand-cut diamonds; antique brilliance
Schedule a Private Consultation
Selecting the right cushion cut — especially for fancy colors — requires expertise in cut evaluation, color optimization, and the distinction between brilliant and modified brilliant. Complimentary and without obligation.
Schedule Your Private ConsultationAll consultations are complimentary and without obligation. We build long-term relationships based on education, trust, and exceptional service.