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Pre-Brilliant Styles

Diamonds are the hardest material on Earth and were prized in ancient times for their strength above all.  The practice of diamond cutting began in the Indian subcontinent in the 6th century and European cutting practices starting in the 14th century where the crystal’s original facets were simply polished to even out nature’s octahedral design, called a point cut. The table cut was the next evolution in diamond cutting where one of the points would be ground off, creating the table facet. 

The crystal structure of a diamond has perfect cleavage, meaning that when force is applied in the appropriate direction the outcome is an extremely smooth fracture. The byproduct of knocked-off crystals produced these flat, naturally faceted, thin pieces of rough material.  By the 17th century, diamond cutters were faceting these thin pieces of precious material, becoming the earliest form of the rose cut. With a flat base and domed shape, the rose cut has no pavilion and features triangular facets covering the crown which meet in a point at its center.

Brilliance like this in diamonds had never been experienced before, and, aligning with advancements in candle making during the Georgian era, rose cut diamonds glimmered into popularity among noble classes of Europe. Helped along by an influx of diamonds into the market from new mine discoveries in Brazil in the early 18th century, demand for sparkling diamond jewelry had never been greater.

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Old Mine Cut - mid 18th century to 19th century  (Georgian and Victorian periods)

Having more material to facet produced greater brilliance from a diamond and as the domes on rose cuts were growing larger to accommodate additional facets to catch the light, a new diamond cut was emerging. Overlapping in the Georgian era with rose cuts, this new brilliant cutting style - Old Mine Cut - was being introduced.  

Reflecting back on earlier diamond cuts, the old mine cut had a similar shape to the table cut - with its deep pavilion and high crown angles - and was multifaceted like the rose cut.  The broad facet pattern in the Old Mine Cut has the wonderful characteristic of producing bold wide flashes in the flickering candle light of the time period. Since the weight of the diamond (the carat part of the 4Cs) contributes the most to its cost, well-made rose cut diamonds continued to be popular through the Georgian Era.  Their thin dimensions are more affordable for the same diameter compared to the deeper proportions of old mine cut diamonds. 

Based on the natural octahedral shape of the diamond in its uncut state, to retain the most weight in the stone there is a high crown angle, deep pavilion, large culet and a small table in an Old Mine Cut diamond. 

Since there is not always a consistent and symmetrical shape in the natural stone, diamonds of this era tend to be off-round without a symmetrical outline, often in rounded square and rectangular shapes.  Old mine cuts were the most popular diamond shape in the 19th century and its timeless design is reflected in the demand for Cushion Brilliant cuts today.

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Old European Cut - late 19th century to early 20th century

The process of establishing the girdle outline is called bruting and up until this point in diamond cutting history this had been a practice completed by hand.  This helps to understand why the outlines of diamonds had been asymmetrical up until this point, as it echoed the shape of the initial rough material.  Mechanical bruting was introduced to diamond cutting in the 1870s which enabled more symmetrical outlines and more consistent facet patterns, contributing to this new look which is now called Old European Cut.  

The round shape allowed for a more proportional stone with less variability than the Old Mine Cut and symmetry was now attainable in the cutting practice without significant weight loss.  With this development, round became the new de facto diamond shape and symmetry became an important factor in the desirability of a stone.  Key characteristics of the Old European Cut style include this new round outline, a small table, shallower pavilion than the Old Mine Cut and a smaller open culet.

Old European cuts had their reign of popularity from the late 19th century to early 20th century. There were commercial mines producing more rough during the time when Old Europeans were popular so there are more of them in existence. One mine in particular was a tremendous supplier of diamonds to Europe.  From 1871-1914, the Kimberley Mine in the Cape Province of South Africa produced 13.6 million carats of diamonds in the period.  Since so much rough material was being mined from a single location, a characteristic of this regional mineral has become another distinctive feature of the Old European Cut and Old Mine Cut diamonds from this era.