Cushion cut
Crushed Ice, or Chunky
The most consequential thing about a cushion cut is a faceting style that no laboratory grades, no certificate names and almost no listing mentions. Here is how to see it yourself.
Written by the Mapple Gems workshop, Surat ยท Updated 30 August 2026
Short answer
Watch a rotating video and look at the size of the individual flashes. Many tiny glittering points that shimmer like wet gravel is crushed ice. A smaller number of large, distinct blocks of light that switch on and off is chunky, sometimes called an antique or old mine style. Neither is better made. Crushed ice hides colour and inclusions and looks busy; chunky shows both and looks calmer and more vintage.
Every other shape has a broadly agreed faceting pattern. A round brilliant has fifty-seven facets in a known arrangement. An emerald cut is a step cut. A princess is a princess. "Cushion" describes only an outline โ a squarish shape with rounded corners โ and says nothing whatsoever about what is happening underneath.
The result is that two stones can both be sold as a 2 carat cushion, both carry an identical grading report, and be as different from each other as a cushion is from an emerald cut. Our cushion cut buying guide introduces the split. This piece is about the practical skill: telling which one you are looking at, from the material a seller actually gives you.
The four-second test
Play a rotating video. Ignore how bright the stone is and ignore the colour of the flashes. Look only at the size of the individual points of light.
- Crushed ice: dozens of very small, restless sparkles across the whole face, blending into a shimmer. There is no clear pattern and the eye cannot follow any single flash. It looks a little like crumpled foil, or the surface of wet gravel.
- Chunky: a small number of large facets that light up individually as the stone turns. You can watch one block go bright and then dark. There is a visible, repeating pattern under the table.
- In between: plenty of stones are hybrids โ chunky under the table, crushed ice toward the edges. This is very common and rarely disclosed.
If all you have is a still photograph, you cannot do this. A still flattens both styles into the same white glitter, which is exactly why sellers who only publish stills are hard to buy from.
What each style actually does
| ย | Crushed ice | Chunky / antique |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Busy, glittery, modern | Calm, blocky, vintage |
| Hides inclusions | Very well โ SI1 often eye-clean | Poorly โ VS2 or better |
| Hides body colour | Very well โ I or J can work | Poorly โ colour pools in the large facets |
| Fire (coloured flashes) | Less โ small facets, white shimmer | More โ big facets throw big colour |
| In low light | Can go flat and grey | Holds up โ large flashes still read |
| Photographs | Extremely well | Less flattering in stills |
| Typical price | Lower โ more common, lower grades usable | Higher โ needs better rough and grades |
Read the two "hides" rows together and you have the whole commercial story. Crushed ice makes a lower-grade stone look good, which is genuinely useful if you know that is what you are buying, and a trap if you do not.
Why this is not on the certificate
Grading laboratories issue a cut grade only for round brilliants. On a cushion you get carat, colour, clarity, measurements, symmetry and polish โ and nothing at all about faceting style or light performance. A crushed ice cushion and a chunky cushion of the same weight and grades produce identical reports.
Symmetry and polish do not help here either. They describe how precisely the facets were placed and finished, not which facets exist. An excellent-symmetry crushed ice stone is a precisely executed crushed ice stone.
From our bench in Surat
Crushed ice is the most commercially convenient cut in the trade and we would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. It photographs beautifully, it lets a J colour pass for an F, it makes an SI1 eye-clean, and it costs less to source. That combination is why a great many cushions on the market are crushed ice whether or not anyone chose it. Nobody is doing anything wrong; the incentives simply all point one way.
Our concession: we do not state faceting style on our own cushion product pages. That is a real gap on the one shape where it is the most important single attribute, and it means our listings have the same problem we are describing. Ask us and we will tell you which a specific stone is, and send video in ordinary indoor light rather than a lightbox so you can see it for yourself.
Which to choose
Crushed ice suits you if you want maximum glitter, if the budget is the binding constraint and you would rather have size than grades, if you like a modern look, or if the ring is going to live under bright light. Buy it deliberately, take the lower colour and clarity grade it permits, and put the saving into carat weight.
Chunky suits you if you want a vintage or antique look, if you like watching individual flashes rather than a general shimmer, if the ring will be worn mostly in ordinary indoor light, or if you find restless sparkle tiring. Budget for VS2 and G or better, because this faceting shows what is inside.
What we would not recommend is choosing neither โ which is what happens by default. Nearly every disappointed cushion buyer we meet got a stone whose faceting they never considered, and the shape gave them no way to notice until it arrived.
What to specify
- Faceting style, named in writing: crushed ice, chunky, or hybrid.
- Rotating video in ordinary indoor light โ a lightbox flatters crushed ice most of all.
- If crushed ice: you may safely drop to SI1 and I colour. Take the saving.
- If chunky: VS2 minimum and G or better, because nothing is hidden.
- Confirmation of whether the stone is a hybrid, and where the change happens.
- Measurements in millimetres, since carat alone tells you little on this shape.
Keep reading
Oval vs cushion cut: which suits you better?
Frequently asked questions
What is a crushed ice cushion cut?
A cushion cut faceted with many small facets under the table, producing dozens of tiny restless sparkles rather than a few large flashes. It looks like crumpled foil or wet gravel in motion. It is not a defect or a lower quality of cutting โ it is a deliberate faceting style with real advantages and real trade-offs.
Is crushed ice or chunky better?
Neither. Crushed ice hides colour and inclusions well, so it stretches a budget further and looks glittery and modern. Chunky shows more fire and a calmer vintage pattern, but needs a better clarity and colour grade because it conceals nothing. The mistake is not choosing between them.
How can I tell which one a listing is selling?
Watch a rotating video and look at the size of the individual flashes, not the overall brightness. Many tiny points blending into a shimmer is crushed ice; a few large blocks switching on and off is chunky. A still photograph cannot tell you โ both look like white glitter when frozen.
Is the faceting style on the grading report?
No. Laboratories issue cut grades only for round brilliants, and on a cushion the report covers carat, colour, clarity, measurements, symmetry and polish โ nothing about faceting style. Two stones of opposite styles produce identical reports.
Does crushed ice look dull in low light?
It can. Small facets need plenty of light to fire, so in dim indoor light a crushed ice cushion sometimes reads as a flat grey shimmer while a chunky stone still throws distinct flashes. Ask for video in ordinary room light rather than a lightbox before deciding.
Ask us which one it is
We will name the faceting style for any cushion we quote and send video in ordinary light, so you can see the difference before you commit.
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