Guided Creator: Step 2 Design

Step 4 of 4 — this is where you design the actual cut. You'll add tiers to the pavilion (bottom), crown (top), and optionally the girdle (edge) by clicking positions on the index wheel.

The Design layout

Three panels:

Left panel: The Pavilion/Crown/Girdle tabs and tier list. Below that, the Add tier button.
Right panel: The live 3D preview showing the stone as you design it, plus controls to pause the rotation.
Bottom panel: The 96-index gear (wheel) — click a position to add or remove an index from the active tier.

At the top of the left panel are three tabs: 1 · Pavilion, 2 · Crown, 3 · Girdle. Start on the Pavilion tab.

Pavilion tab

The pavilion is the bottom half of the stone. Most designs work bottom-up, because the pavilion angles feed into the crown angles (the crown has to fit above the pavilion without overlapping).

Your shape's default already has one tier seeded — P1 (Pavilion mains) at a typical angle for that shape, with a set number of indices already lit on the gear.

To add more tiers to the pavilion:

Click the + Add tier button.
A new tier card appears with a default name (e.g., P2, the next number in sequence) and a starting angle.
Click the new tier card to select it (it highlights).
Click positions on the 96-index gear to add facets. Each click toggles that position — click again to remove it.

The symmetry expansion: When you click a position, the symmetry you set in Setup automatically expands it. For example, under 4-fold + mirror, clicking position 6 lights up 8 positions (6, 18, 30, 42, 54, 66, 78, 90). You don't type these manually — the gear does the expansion for you.

Angle and distance: Each tier row shows angle and distance sliders and numbers. Leave them at the defaults or drag the sliders to adjust them. See Faceting Workflow for what angle and distance mean.

The live preview: As you add tiers and click indices, the stone in the right panel updates instantly. If it starts to look wrong (e.g., too shallow, or facets overlapping), you'll see it immediately.

Once you've added pavilion tiers and set their indices, click Continue to Crown →.

Crown tab

The crown sits above the girdle, with the table (the flat facet at the very top) at the center. The workflow is identical to the pavilion.

You'll typically add:

C1 (Crown mains, often seeded by default) — the largest crown facets, usually directly above the pavilion mains.
C2 (Crown breaks) — smaller facets filling the gaps between C1 facets, plus the star pattern at the very top.
Optionally more tiers for additional complexity.

Table size: At the top of the Crown tab, a Table width control sets the diameter of the table as a percentage of the stone's overall width (0–100%). The default is typically 50–60%. Leave it as-is for a round brilliant, or adjust it for other shapes.

The axis-locked gotcha: Some positions sit exactly on the mirror line of the symmetry. For 4-fold + mirror, positions 0 and 12 are axis-locked. Clicking just one adds only 4 facets, not 8. To get the full 8, click both positions — that's how you create a classic 8-point star pattern in the crown. See The 96-Index Wheel for the full explanation.

Once you've added crown tiers, click Continue to Girdle →.

Girdle tab

The girdle is the thin edge band where the crown meets the pavilion. Your shape already has one girdle tier seeded, and you rarely need to add more.

Thickness control: A slider sets the girdle thickness as a percentage of the stone's diameter (typically 1–4%). The default is usually fine; drag the slider if you want it thicker or thinner.

Stats: Below the thickness, you'll see how many tiers and facets the girdle has, and its thickness as a percentage.

You can add more girdle tiers with + Add tier if you want complexity, but most designs stop here.

Live stats and preview

At the bottom of the preview panel, stats show:

Facet count: Total facets across all sides (pavilion + crown + girdle).
Tier count: How many tiers you've defined.
Symmetry: The fold and mirror settings you chose in Setup.
Depth/width ratio: How deep the stone sits relative to its width (varies by design).

Auto-rotate: The preview spins continuously. Click Auto-rotate to toggle it off/on if you want to study the stone from a fixed angle.

Ready to finish

Once you're happy with all three sides (pavilion, crown, girdle), click Finish — Open in Editor at the bottom of the left panel. You'll land in the main editor with your stone already loaded and rendered. From there, you can save it, export it, or tweak individual tiers further.

See Guided Creator: Finishing & Handoff for the next steps.