These designs are completely generated from scratch and computationally optimized by our custom physics engine—basically Tolkowsky on steroids. By precisely simulating how light behaves inside a gemstone, the system autonomously explores countless configurations to discover the mathematically perfect arrangement of facets.
Measures the total light returned to the observer, normalized against a Hearts & Arrows reference. Values above 1.0 outperform the benchmark.
Quantifies the alternating light-and-dark pattern that creates visual "fire". Higher contrast means more dramatic scintillation when the stone moves.
Each gem material bends light differently. We optimize independently per RI so the designs below are purpose-built for their target material.
In gemstone optics, brightness and contrast are the two most important performance axes, and they are fundamentally in tension. A faceting design that maximizes total light return can easily produce a "watery" stone with almost no visible pattern. Conversely, a design that pushes contrast too hard may sacrifice light return.
The best gem designs live in the upper-right of a brightness-vs-contrast plot: high light return and strong alternating light–dark patterning. This is what the human eye perceives as "life": a stone that sparkles and flashes as it moves. The scatter plots below show exactly where each OffTheDop.shop design lands in this space compared to well-known traditional cuts.
Because different gem materials bend light at different critical angles, a design that excels at RI 1.54 (quartz) may perform poorly at RI 2.42 (diamond). That is why we plot each refractive index separately, as the optimal trade-off curve shifts with the material.
Beauty will always be in the eye of the beholder, but optical performance can be measured objectively. Light return, contrast patterning, scintillation: these are physical quantities, not opinions. When you browse the charts below you will notice that many of these algorithmically generated designs routinely outperform the best traditional hand-designed cuts. And in the author's experience, this form-follows-function approach has a happy side effect: optimizing for light can produce surprisingly beautiful stones.
Each design's composite score combines not just brightness and contrast, but also scintillation (how much the stone sparkles when tilted), entropy (pattern complexity and visual richness), and window (light leakage through the pavilion). Within each RI, we rank every design by this composite score and price accordingly:
Each dot is one OffTheDop.shop design. Reference markers (★) highlight specific known designs for comparison.