The Hayek cut was named after the Nobel Laureate economist F. A. Hayek. Although this design was developed to fit a specific piece of beryl rough, the cut can be very useful for faceting other kinds of gems, too. Any time you have a blocky piece of rough that is not square enough for an emerald cut, try the Hayek.

Hayek cut - Beryl

Beryl Gemstone with Hayek Cut

This beauty has a Barion style pavilion, which accounts for its great brilliance. The optical performance of this cut is outstanding in light to medium colored rough. However, I would caution against using the Hayek cut in darker rough.

This is a fairly simple design to cut. Now that you have it in your repertoire, you should find multiple uses for this diagram.

The Hayek Cut: Diagrams

The Hayek Cut: Instructions

  • Angles for R.I. = 1.56
  • 45 facets + 4 facets on girdle = 49
  • 96 index
  • L/W = 1.500 T/W = 1.066 T/L = 0.710
  • P/W = 0.807 C/W = 0.110
  • H/W = (P+C)/W+0.02 = 0.937
  • P/H = 0.862 C/H = 0.117
  • Vol./W^3 = 0.628

Pavilion

Crown

Detailed faceting instructions by Jeff Graham available at The Rock Peddler