Shapes

Although    the  whole  industry  blurs  the boundaries  between  shapes  and  cuts,  I  have  always been taught that in the strictest sense,  the cut of the gem refers to either the quality of the faceting or the shape and arrangements of  the facets. Whilst the shape refers to the outline  shape of the gem when viewed from the top. There are over 40 most commonly used shapes for gemstones, onto which Lapidarists will apply facets and at  which point we can start discussing cuts.