Are Old Mine Cut Diamonds Worth More

Up until about ten years ago old cut diamonds such as old mine cushion and old european were viewed by many as diamonds that needed to be recut into modern cuts like the brilliant cut.

Are old mine cut diamonds worth more.

A diamond dealer would often devalue the stones by approximately 20 30 percent as that would be the amount of diamond weight lost in the recut. The proportions of a diamond s cut determine how well the stone will return light to the eye of the observer. Then as african mines began producing diamonds of higher color quality the term old mine cut was applied to any diamond with exceptional color and one that had the older style cut. Diamonds possessed a polished culet with far greater depth than most modern cut diamonds.

The old mine cut in detail. Old mine cut diamonds have a squarish shape with curved edges that looks like a modern cushion cut. Each link represents an average per carat price for different color and clarity combinations. Antique diamonds have old cuts that usually don t maximize the stone s brilliance as well as contemporary cuts do.

The term old mine cut applies to many of the diamonds cut before the 18th century. Before the process of bruting many of the diamonds assumed a square shape appearing like the forerunner of the cushion cut. You can often find old mine cut diamonds in georgian and victorian era jewelry while diamonds in the old european cut were more common in the early 20th century. Old mine cut originally meant any brilliant cut squarish shape colorless or near colorless diamonds that originated in brazil or india.

The charts below show current retail diamond prices statistics for oldminer diamonds from the inventories of 15 vendors listed on pricescope. Features of old cut diamonds. Please be aware that cut quality can make a difference in price. The more light a diamond returns the greater its brilliance.

The old mine cut predates the old european cut by more than 100 years.