The ‘Old Cut’ concept was developed in the Netherlands and only crystallized – pardon the pun – in the 19th century. The table, facets and shape of the cut are different and were very popular among diamond cutters in that era.
The cut style, similar to the Brilliant Cut, is attributed to the 17th century Italian jeweler Peruzzi. After Peruzzi, the Old European Cut was developed, and later another variation on the cut was invented in 1750 by the British jeweler Jeffries.
The modern diamond cut was only developed in the 20th century. In 1919 the Belgian Jewish diamond cutter and mathematician Marcel Tolkowsky developed the optimal formula for cutting a diamond in order to return the maximum amount of light, brilliance and fire. His research, based on optical science and the polished diamond’s physical characteristics, led to the development of a cutting model that has remained more or less intact until today, with regard to the division of the diamond and the amount of facets.
Old Cut comes back into style every once in a while and is embedded into new pieces of jewelry, but an Old Cut diamond has less brilliance and fire than an Ideal Cut diamond.
