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Fig. 13.
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1 Culet or collet 4 Pavilion facets 4 Quoins 8 Cross facets 8 Skill facets
= The "Pavilion," or base, or under part of the brilliant.
There are thus 58 facets in a brilliant, while the "girdle" or edge bounding the widest part of the stone divides the crown from the base, and is concealed, in part at least, by the mounting or setting. This girdle must not be very thin (it is liable to be so in what are called "spread," that is, shallow, stones), for then it may become chipped and break away during mounting. If it be thick, on the other hand, the brilliancy of the stone is lessened, and its material wasted by the concealment of a good deal of it in the mount. This form of cutting is reserved particularly for the diamond—so much so, that the word "brilliant" used alone signifies a diamond cut after this fashion. Of late years the girdle of brilliants has been made to approach a circular outline; the templets and quoins are nearly of the same size, and eight star facets are cut round the culet, thus making a stone of 66 facets. Certain rules have been laid down for the relative proportions, not only of the several classes of facets in a brilliant-cut diamond, but also for the thickness of the finished stone in each and all its diameters. Thus 1-3rd of the total thickness should be occupied by the crown or upper portion above the girdle, 2-3rds being below. The table should be 4-9ths of the breadth of the stone, and the
