GCAL by Sarine expands 8X grading to cushion diamonds

GCAL by Sarine has put one of the trade’s most familiar fancy shapes under a more exacting lens. With the launch of the GCAL 8X Cushion Cut Grade in New York on May 20, 2026, the lab expanded its 8X Ultimate Cut Grade program to cushion diamonds, a move meant to make a crowded category easier to compare, merchandise and explain.

That matters because cushions have long sat in a murkier grading zone than round brilliants. Traditional reports for fancy shapes have typically emphasized polish and symmetry, which can leave buyers with limited insight into how a stone actually performs in the hand and under light. GCAL’s 8X system is designed to address that gap by measuring eight attributes of cut quality, including polish, external symmetry, proportions, optical brilliance, fire, scintillation, optical symmetry and shape aesthetics, with hearts-and-arrows referenced where relevant.

The timing is telling. GCAL launched 8X in 2021 with round brilliants, moved into fancy shapes in 2022 and added proprietary cuts in 2023. By December 2024, pear and marquise had joined the program, bringing the number of 8X-eligible fancy shapes to four: oval, princess, pear and marquise. Before the cushion launch, GCAL’s own site had flagged long cushion and emerald shapes as next in line, underscoring that this was a staged rollout rather than a one-off product tweak.

The business logic is straightforward. GCAL says fancy-shaped diamonds now make up a significant and growing share of its submissions, reflecting stronger consumer demand for elongated shapes. In that environment, a more rigorous cut grade could give retailers a cleaner way to justify price differences and build confidence around stones that have historically been harder to benchmark than rounds. Industry commentary around the announcement pointed in the same direction, arguing that stronger cut grading for fancy shapes can improve transparency and support natural diamonds at a time when comparison shopping is more exacting than ever.

Still, the real test is on the sales floor. A richer grading report can sharpen a cushion diamond’s appeal if it helps a buyer understand why one stone throws brighter flashes, better balance or livelier scintillation than another. It can also become one more layer of complexity if the trade does not learn to use the language consistently. GCAL by Sarine, which operates in New York and Surat, India, is betting that more data, not less, will make the cushion market easier to trust.