OLD MINE AND OLD EUROPEAN CUT
The wonderful old mine cuts have the same number of facets, 58, as the modern round brilliant.
First started appearing in jewelry
Since diamonds first started appearing in jewelry, these stones were a product of the technology of the time . The diamonds, cut without the advantage of motorized machinery, followed the rough diamond’s octahedral shape.
Old mine and old European diamonds
The shape of the old mine and old European diamonds of that time was not uniform at all. One side might be narrower than the opposite side. There were a lot of variations in the shapes and facet arrangements, and the sizes of the facets were not uniform whatsoever.
Old mine and old European diamonds
Until the late 1800s, the diamond cutters were faceting stones creating mostly squarish or rectangularish cushion-shaped diamonds.
What was typical of old mine and old European diamonds, are the heavy crown, a wide open culet and a very small table. But even so ,the rough would always dictate the final shape of the stone.
The old European diamonds
The old European diamonds typically are not going to be as white, points out Goldstein. “There’s a reason for that. Most of the white stones we get in the market today come from Southern Africa — Angola, Botswana, Sierra Leone — and those old mines didn’t exist then. Stones were coming from Brazil and Venezuela — and by the way, they still do. For the most part, these are darker stones.” As a general rule, however, Goldstein explains, “The old mine diamonds in mountings face one or two color grades whiter than they actually are. Because of their open culet, color is not trapped in the stone.”
In the 1900s
With the advent of motorized machinery, there was a transition, into what is known as an old European, or old Euro cut. It was the bridge between the roundish old mine cut and the modern round of today. It is distinguished by an open cutlet that is not nearly as open as an old mine cut, although large by today’s standards. The bottom halves added to the primary eight facets are short.
The old European diamonds stones
The old European diamonds stones have become more popular each year over the past 20 years. People have become intrigued by them. There are people who like the concept of owning something, just knowing that it was owned by somebody from a very long time ago.