Old Cut Diamonds: Mine, European, Transitional and Rose
Every facet on a diamond cut before about 1900 was placed by hand, judged by eye, against a wheel turned by a foot treadle, in a room lit by daylight and candles. The cuts that resulted are not worse than modern ones. They were cut for a different room.
Look straight down through the top of an old diamond and you will often see a small dark octagon at the centre, as though somebody had drilled a hole in it. That is the culet, a flat facet left where a modern stone would come to a point, and it is the single most useful thing on the stone. It tells you the diamond was cut before about 1900, and it is the reason antique diamonds behave the way they do in a room.
The four cuts, and what separates them
| Old mine | Old European | Transitional | Modern brilliant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cut roughly | 1750 to 1900 | 1890 to 1930 | 1930 to 1950 | 1950 onward |
| Outline | Cushion, often lopsided | Round, cut by eye | Round | Round, machine accurate |
| Table width | 38 to 45 per cent | 40 to 50 per cent | 50 to 56 per cent | 53 to 60 per cent |
| Culet | Open, clearly visible | Open, smaller | Tiny or closed | Closed to a point |
| Crown | High | High | Medium | Shallow |
| In light | Broad slow flashes of colour | Bold chunky flashes | Between the two | Fast even white sparkle |
The cut comparator lets you drag between any two of these and watch the table widen and the culet close.
Old mine cut
Squarish outline with rounded corners, a small table, a high crown and an open culet, cut by hand from roughly 1750 until the end of the nineteenth century. The word mine refers to the old Brazilian and Indian workings the rough came from, not to a cutting style, though it has come to mean both.
No two are alike. The cutter's first duty was to save weight from an expensive piece of rough, so outlines wander, girdles vary in thickness around the stone, and facets meet imperfectly. That irregularity is why an old mine cut looks alive rather than mechanical, and it is also why grading laboratories dislike them.
Old European cut
The same philosophy made round. As bruting machines improved in the 1870s and 1880s, cutters could round a stone reliably, and the round shape spread. The table stayed small, the crown stayed high and the culet stayed open. Cut roughly 1890 to 1930, which places it squarely in Edwardian and early Art Deco jewelry.
Transitional cut
The awkward and rather beautiful middle. Round like a modern stone, but with a table still narrower and a crown still taller than anything cut after 1950, and a culet closed to almost nothing. Roughly 1930 to 1950. Many stones sold as old European cuts are really transitional, and the difference matters to a specialist buyer.
Modern round brilliant
Where it all ends up. A wide table, a shallow crown, a girdle of even thickness and a culet closed to a point, all cut to figures calculated on paper rather than judged by eye. It returns more white light than any old cut and, to a collector's eye, has less to say.
Rose cut
Not a brilliant at all. A rose cut is flat underneath with a domed, faceted top rising to a point, and it has no pavilion. Set one on a sheet of glass and it sits flush, which no other cut does. In use from the sixteenth century, still made in the nineteenth for small stones, and revived repeatedly since. It does not sparkle; it glows, gathering light rather than throwing it back, which is exactly what candlelight asked for.
Every cut ever used in jewelry, drawn the same way, is set out in the guide to diamond cuts.
Why the old cuts look the way they do
Three constraints, all of them gone by 1950.
The light. Before electricity, jewelry was seen by candle and gas: few sources, weak, warm and moving. A stone with a small table and a high crown bends light into a small number of large, slow, coloured flashes visible across a room. Under a modern spotlight the same stone looks sleepy, and under a jeweler's lamp it can look dull, which is why old cuts photograph badly and wear beautifully.
The tools. Rounding was done by hand-holding one diamond against another. Polishing was done on a wheel driven by a treadle or a boy. Precision cost time, and time cost money.
The rough. Diamond was scarce and expensive and the cutter's job was to keep weight. A modern cutter sacrifices weight for optical performance because a well-cut stone sells for more per carat. A Victorian cutter did the opposite.
The open culet has a practical explanation too. A true point chips against a metal setting during mounting, and a small flat facet is insurance.
What they are worth against each other
Since roughly 2015, old cuts have moved from being discounted to being sought, and prices have followed. A well-proportioned old European or old mine cut of good colour now frequently sells above a modern stone of the same weight and grade, because supply is genuinely fixed: no more will ever be cut.
Three things drive the price of an old cut, in this order.
- The look, not the grade. Buyers who want an old cut want the chunky flash. A stone that has been given a perfect grade by being cut so conservatively that it looks modern is worth less to that buyer than one with visible personality.
- Whether it is intact. A great many old stones have been recut to modern proportions, losing weight and character. A recut stone is a modern stone with an old history.
- Colour warmth. Old rough was often warm. Slight warmth reads as beautiful in yellow gold and as a fault in a laboratory report, and the market now largely agrees with the gold.
Telling them apart with the piece in your hand
You need a 10x loupe and a window. Not a lamp, a window: diffuse daylight from the side.
- Look straight down through the table. A visible dark octagon in the centre is an open culet. That alone rules out a modern brilliant.
- Look at the outline. Squarish with rounded corners is an old mine cut. Round is old European, transitional or modern.
- Look at the profile from the side. A tall crown that sits well above the setting is old. A shallow crown flush with the mount is modern.
- Measure the table by eye against the whole stone. Under half the width is old. Well over half is modern.
- Check the girdle. Old stones often have a knife-thin girdle, which is why so many are chipped there. Modern stones have a faceted or polished girdle of even thickness.
If the stone has an open culet and the mount is Edwardian or earlier, the two agree and you are probably looking at an original piece. If the stone is a modern brilliant in an 1880s mount, the stone was replaced, and that is worth knowing before you pay for the piece as original.
Frequently asked questions
What is an old mine cut diamond?
A diamond cut by hand before about 1900, with a squarish cushion outline, a small table, a high crown and an open culet visible as a small octagon when you look straight down through the stone.
What is the difference between an old mine cut and an old European cut?
Outline. An old mine cut has a squarish cushion outline; an old European cut is round. Both have small tables, high crowns and open culets. Old mine cuts are generally earlier, up to about 1900, and old European cuts run from about 1890 to 1930.
Why do old diamonds have a hole in the middle?
That is the culet, a flat facet left at the bottom point of the stone rather than closing it to a sharp point. It was left to prevent chipping during setting and because hand cutting made a true point difficult. Seen from above through the table it looks like a small dark hole.
Are old cut diamonds worth more than modern ones?
Often yes, for equivalent weight and quality, because no new ones will ever be cut and demand has risen sharply since the mid 2010s. A well-proportioned old European cut with visible character frequently sells above a modern brilliant of the same carat and grade.
Should I have my old cut diamond recut to sparkle more?
No. Recutting loses twenty to thirty per cent of the weight and removes exactly the characteristics that make old cuts valuable. It cannot be undone.
How do I know if the diamond in my antique ring is original to it?
Check whether the stone and the mount agree in date. An open culet in a Victorian setting is consistent. A modern brilliant with a wide table and no culet in a Victorian setting means the stone was replaced, which is common and reduces the value of the piece as an antique.