The emerald cut is known for its long elegant rectangular shape and trimmed corners. Its beauty lies in its ability to contrast light and dark within the diamond, resulting in the hall of mirrors effect for which it is famous.
The Asscher cut is a square cut with trimmed off corners, giving it an octagonal look. It’s characterized by the windmill design seen across its surface.
The baguette cut is basically an emerald cut without the truncated corners. Instead, it has sharp pointed edges and a rectangular arrangement of facets. It’s typically used as accent stones. Baguette cuts don’t have much sparkle but is ideal to add detail and style to a ring design.
The Carre cut is a more unique, relatively unknown diamond cut. It’s essentially an Asscher without the truncated corners. As such, the Carre cut doesn’t have the famous windmills of the Asscher but instead displays a clear X shape across its surface. This diamond cut is ideal if you want something very different.
It’s generally said that these four step cuts are related in that the baguette cut is to the emerald cut what the Carre cut is to the Asscher cut.