The sparkle, brilliance, and beauty of diamonds are due to how they are cut. There are different grades to it, the higher the grade, the greater the beauty of the stone and vice versa. Apart from this, the shape of the stone also influences the cut quality of diamonds. You must also know that many people confuse between the cut and the shape of the stone (round, pear, and oval, etc.). Now let us look at different diamond cuts and their evolution.
The Past
One of the earliest methods for shaping rough diamonds is cleaving and starting from the 14th century this started to evolve. It evolved to the point where it was possible to split and divide the rough stone along with its plane directions.
Point-Cut Diamond
This is one of the earliest types of diamond cuts. Here, the stone is in its natural octahedral shape, and it is not cut but polished.
Table Cut Diamond
The point-cut diamond evolved further by the mid-15th century. By this time, a portion of one half of the octahedron was sawed off to create a table. Later in the century, the cutting wheel was used to add facets to the table cut diamonds to increase the optical quality of the stone. This created diamonds with 9 facets, and we use this cut to pictorially represent diamonds.
Mazarin-Cut Diamond
It is the first true brilliant-cut diamond, and it evolved from the single-cut. It has 17 crown facets, which increased the optical quality of the stone and thereby created sparkle.
Rose-Cut Diamond
As the name implies, this cut resembles the tightly packed petals of a rosebud with a flat and domed top. This was one of the popular types of diamond cuts in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, but its popularity declined in the 20th century.
Old Mine-Cut Diamond
This diamond cut evolved from the 17 faceted Mazarin cut. The old mine-cut diamond has 58 facets, and this significantly increased the brilliance of the stone.
European-Cut Diamond
It evolved from the old mine-cut diamond, and it is a predecessor of the modern round-cut diamond. It has 58 facets, and this gives it a brilliant sparkle.
Round Brilliant-Cut Diamond
This diamond cut was developed in 1919 by the Belgian mathematician Marcel Tolkowsky. It has exceptional sparkle due to its 57 or 58 facets.
We hope this article served its purpose of giving you an insight into different diamond cuts and how each of them evolved over time.
