Old Mine Cut Diamond Vs Round Brilliant

Round brilliant has to start with the diamond cutting technology available at the time.

Old mine cut diamond vs round brilliant.

Reasons to buy an old mine cut diamond. Up until about ten years ago old cut diamonds such as old mine cushion and old european were viewed by many as diamonds that needed to be recut into modern cuts like the brilliant cut. It typically has a smaller table larger culet and higher crown. It has 58 facets like today s modern round brilliant cut diamond but that s where the similarity ends.

Whereas vintage diamonds were cut for color modern round brilliant diamonds as their name suggests are cut for brilliance. In addition to a different shape an old mine cut has different diamond proportions. On this page the calculator allows the user to estimate the diamond value based on rapaport diamond prices a diamond is valued by 4 important parameters color clarity cut and carat weight. The estimate of the diamond price is only indicative the prices vary with the market and other factors.

Diamond cutting and technology advanced quickly then to the modern round brilliant cut. The diamond cutting technology during the 18th and 19th century was very rudimentary so therefore it is common to see old mine cut diamonds with less than perfect symmetry and larger facets. Old cut diamonds have 58 facets. Most round brilliant cuts only have 57 due to the fact that most have a pointed culet see below.

The old mine style of cutting diamonds has been used since the end of the 17th century. This meant that tables were much smaller facets were less precisely placed and shaped and the end result was that the diamond cutter could not. During the 1900 s diamonds were cut entirely by hand. Most of the old mine cut diamonds that exist today are found in antique jewelry from both victorian and edwardian eras.

The modern round brilliant diamond and the old european cut both have either 57 or 58 facets but the shape and placement of those facets gives each cut its distinctive personality. The old mine cut is the direct predecessor of brilliant cut diamonds first created in 1919 by marcel tolkowsky. The warmth of the candles was enhanced much more than it is in modern stones in the same way that old mine cuts don t usually have the sparkle of say a modern round brilliant diamond. You can recognize an old mine cut diamond by its squarish shape.

While old cut diamonds were cut with an emphasis on maximising their size and enhancing their colour and clarity round brilliant cut diamonds are cut to maximise their brilliance hence the name or the amount of white light that s reflected internally and. A diamond dealer would often devalue the stones by approximately 20 30 percent as that would be the amount of diamond weight lost in the recut. Transitional cut diamonds were the common cut in the 1940 s. Antique diamonds regularly show warmth in color as many of the whiter old diamonds have been.

The proportions were designed to make the most of the available light at the time which was of course candlelight.