Every Diamond Cut, in the Order It Was Invented

Every drawing on this page is constructed from the proportions each cut actually used - table width, crown height, pavilion depth, culet size - rather than traced from a photograph. Two stones drawn the same way can be compared honestly; two photographs cannot, because lighting does most of the work.

Drag any two of them against each other in the cut comparator.

Before there was cutting

Table cut, about 1400 to 1700

The first thing anyone did to a diamond was grind the point off the natural octahedral crystal, producing a flat table on top and a smaller one underneath. There is nothing to it optically. It is dark, it is glassy, and it was the height of luxury for three hundred years because nobody could do better.

Fig. 01 A natural crystal with its point ground flat. Four facets and a great deal of patience.

Rose cut, about 1500 to 1900

Flat underneath, domed on top, faceted to a point, and no pavilion at all. Because it wastes almost no weight from flat rough it was the economical cut for centuries, and it does something no brilliant does: it glows rather than sparkles. Set one on glass and it lies flush, which is the quickest identification in the trade.

Fig. 02 No pavilion. The entire stone is a faceted dome sitting on a flat back.

Old single cut, from about 1300

Eight crown facets, eight pavilion facets, a table and a culet. Nothing else. It survives to this day for stones too small to justify a full brilliant, so a single cut in a piece is not by itself old - but a large one is.

Fig. 03 Eight facets around the table and no star or upper girdle facets. The simplest brilliant there is.

The hand-cut brilliants

Old mine cut, about 1750 to 1900

A cushion outline with a small table, a high crown and an open culet, cut by hand and eye. The word mine refers to the old Brazilian and Indian workings the rough came from. Under the few weak warm light sources of a pre-electric room, this cut throws big slow flashes of colour across a room.

Fig. 04 Cushion outline, small table, tall crown, culet left open. The signature of nineteenth century cutting.

Old European cut, about 1890 to 1930

The same thinking made round, once mechanical bruting could round a stone reliably. Small table, high crown, culet still open. This is the diamond in most Edwardian and early Art Deco jewelry.

Fig. 05 Round outline, small table, open culet. The transition between hand and machine.

Transitional cut, about 1930 to 1950

Round like a modern stone, but the crown is still tall, the table still narrow and the culet has shrunk almost to nothing. A great many stones sold as old European cuts are really transitional.

Fig. 06 The awkward and rather beautiful middle. Halfway between two centuries.

Modern round brilliant, from about 1950

Fifty-seven facets cut to figures derived on paper rather than judged by eye. Wide table, shallow crown, no culet. It returns more white light than anything before it, and it is the reason old cuts went out of fashion for forty years before coming back.

Fig. 07 Wide table, shallow crown, culet closed to a point. Optimised, and identical to every other one.

The step cuts

Step cuts have no brilliant facets at all. Their facets run in parallel bands around the stone like the steps of a terrace, which produces broad flashes and long clean lines rather than sparkle. They are unforgiving: with no scintillation to hide behind, every inclusion shows.

Emerald cut, from about 1920

A rectangle with cut corners and three or more rows of steps. Named for the shape emeralds were traditionally cut in, because the corners are the part that chips and cutting them off protects the stone.

Fig. 08 Rectangular steps and cut corners. A window into the stone rather than a mirror.

Asscher cut, from 1902

A square emerald cut with deeper corners and a higher crown, patented by Joseph Asscher in Amsterdam. Genuine period Asschers are Art Deco objects and are quite distinct from the modern revival, which is squarer and shallower.

Fig. 09 Square, deep-cornered, high-crowned. The most architectural stone of the period.

Baguette, from the 1920s

A small elongated step cut whose purpose is to draw a straight line in stone. Art Deco design would not exist in the form it took without it.

Fig. 10 Long, thin, two or three steps. Used by the dozen to build geometry.

Carre cut, about 1900 to 1940

A true square with uncut corners, set edge to edge in rows. Where you see a channel of small squares fitted exactly together with no metal showing between them, you are looking at carre cutting and at real expense.

Fig. 11 A small true square. Cut individually to fit its setting, which is why it costs what it does.

The fancy shapes

Marquise, eighteenth century onward

A pointed oval, also called a navette, said to have been cut to flatter the mouth of the Marquise de Pompadour. The points are its weakness: they are where a marquise chips, and a well-made setting always protects them.

Fig. 12 Two arcs meeting at points. Curved sides and sharp ends, which no simple oval gives you.

Pear, seventeenth century onward

Round at one end, pointed at the other. Historically a way of keeping weight from an awkward piece of rough, and later a shape in its own right for drops and pendants.

Fig. 13 Half brilliant, half marquise. The oldest fancy shape still in regular use.

Oval brilliant, modern form from 1957

Ovals were cut for centuries, but the modern faceting arrangement dates from Lazare Kaplan's work in 1957. Look for the bow tie: a dark band across the middle that every oval has to some degree.

Fig. 14 A brilliant stretched. Elegant, and prone to a dark bow tie across the centre.

Briolette, medieval onward

A drop faceted all the way round with no girdle and no table, meant to be drilled and hung so it turns. One of the oldest forms in the world and still one of the most difficult.

Fig. 15 Faceted on every surface, with no flat plane anywhere. Made to swing and catch light from all sides.

Not a cut at all

Cabochon

A dome, polished rather than faceted. It is the only sensible treatment for opaque and translucent material, which means garnet, moonstone, turquoise, opal, coral and jet are almost always cabochons. It is also the oldest thing anyone has ever done to a gemstone.

Fig. 16 Polished to a dome and flat underneath. Faceting an opaque stone would achieve nothing.

Reading a piece by its stones

If the stones are	The piece is probably	Unless
Rose cut	Georgian or early Victorian	It is a deliberate modern revival, which is common
Old mine cut	1750 to 1900	The stones were reset later, which is very common
Old European cut	1890 to 1930	Same
Transitional	1930 to 1950	Same
Modern brilliant	1950 onward	The stone replaced a lost original
Calibre-cut squares and baguettes	1920 to 1940	It is a reproduction, so check the millegrain
Cabochon coloured stones	Any period at all	Nothing. Cabochons date nothing on their own

The stones and the mount have to agree. When they do not, one of them was changed, and knowing which is worth real money. That method is set out in how to date antique jewelry.

Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest diamond cut?

The table cut, in use from roughly 1400, which is simply the natural octahedral crystal with its point ground flat. The rose cut follows from about 1500 and the earliest brilliants from the seventeenth century.

How can I tell what cut my diamond is?

Look straight down through the top with a loupe. A visible dark spot in the centre is an open culet, which means an old cut. Then look at the outline: cushion means old mine, round means old European or later, rectangular with cut corners means a step cut. Finally look at the profile from the side: a tall crown is old, a shallow one modern.

What is the difference between a step cut and a brilliant cut?

A brilliant has triangular and kite-shaped facets arranged to bounce light back at the viewer, producing sparkle. A step cut has rectangular facets in parallel bands, producing broad flashes and a clear view into the stone. Emerald, Asscher, baguette and carre are step cuts; everything round is usually a brilliant.

Are old cut diamonds worth more than modern ones?

Often, for the same weight and quality, because no new ones will ever be cut and demand has risen sharply since the mid 2010s. See old cut diamonds.

Why do old diamonds look duller than modern ones?

They do not, in the light they were cut for. Old cuts were designed for candles and gas: few, weak, warm, moving light sources. Under a modern spotlight they can look sleepy, and in a softly lit room they outperform a modern brilliant for depth of colour.

What is a bow tie in a diamond?

A dark band across the centre of an elongated stone, most visible in ovals, marquises and pears. It is caused by the pavilion facets shadowing the middle of the stone. Every elongated brilliant has one to some degree; a good cut keeps it faint.