precious and semi precious jewellery guide

old cuts

Now knowing that the best cut for a stone would be to reflect as much light back out to the viewer, we can understand how the old cuts evolved into the complex modern cuts. One of the first cuts was the simple crystal that was either rounded into a cabochon / rounded edge or sharpened into a triangular pointed stud of only a few simple crude facets with a flat base. As the art of cutting and polishing stones improved so did the complexity of the stone cuts. Below we can see the first stages in the evolution of lapidary.

This is probably one the most evident and most important evolutions in stone cutting. From the basic crystal a simple stud was polished and we can see how the introduction of more facets began to allow not only more shapes but also improving the reflection of light into and from the stone, thus improving the overall appearance and enhancing the brilliance, fire and fluorescence of a stone. The above diagrams are also a good method of understanding a few steps in how a stone is cut from the rough crystal. This transformation into the rounded cuts has many further variations from the old cuts into the modern brilliant and step cuts. Below are a few further examples of the old cuts.

	The old round cut top view: Also known as the 8 cut, One of the great fore-fathers in the evolution into the modern brilliant cuts.
	The six cut / old round cut top view: The same as the old round 8 cut above but as the name suggests, the 6 cut has six facets on the crown, excluding the table, while the 8 cut has 8 facets.
	Side view of the old rose cut: A more complex and multi faceted version of the stud
	Rose cut top view:
	Cabochon side view: A cabochon can be either round or oval from the top view, some stones can display a beautiful asterism when cut in cabochon. Seldom ever used for diamonds, but popular for mostly any other stone.
	The Triplet Cabochon side view: ** Three layers comprising to replicate a cabochon stone, the top layer is transparent crystal or resin, the centre is a thin precious or semi precious stone layer with the bottom usually a black stone like obsidian. Usually most recognisable by viewing from the side. **Not an old cut but never the less derived to imitate a cabochon or bigger stone. Most often used for opals. for more imitations see the doublet

Although I have termed the cuts above as old cuts, many of them such as the cabochon are still popular as modern cuts, there are many diamonds still found in antique or replica jewellery with rose cuts, old round cuts and variations of the table cut. Many table cuts I have worked with are however imperfect shapes and vary in the amount of facets. We have to remember that our ancestors did not have the wonderful tools we do today. There are many different variations of diamond cuts and brilliant cuts throughout history that I have not added.

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