1.12ct Rose Diamond Gypsy Set Platinum Ring

Director’s Notes

The rose cut is one of the earliest of diamond cuts, its origins can be traced back to the 16th century. Prior to the development of the rose cut, most diamonds only had a table facet added to them and so the actual cutting and polishing of rough crystals was minimal. With the discovery of diamond deposits in Brazil and the development of cutting techniques in Europe, diamonds became more available than they had been and cutters began to experiment with faceting. Additionally, they were looking at ways to alter the natural outline of the rough and try to make stones rounder and more uniform in shape. Writing in 1568, Benvenuto Cellini describes the process we now know as ‘bruting’ – making a diamond rounded in outline by turning it against another diamond. This was the first time that diamonds had been made round and not simply followed the shape of the original rough. Whilst the earliest roses were often irregular in outline, they became more rounded over time and are characterised by their flat backs and fully faceted domed tops covered in triangular facets. These are the first fully cut and faceted diamonds (as opposed to simply polished) and were first introduced in Antwerp. The rose cut made good use of flat pieces of rough allowing these to be utilised alongside better formed crystals. Originally there would have been as few as three or maybe six facets added to the crown but as time went on these increased to as many as twenty-four. The term ‘double rose’ is used to refer to a rose cut that is domed top and bottom with both sides fully faceted with small triangular facets. Part of the appeal of a rose cut diamond, then as now, is the fact that the shallow nature of the stones means they look bigger than diamonds of the same carat weight so can give a showier ‘look’ for similar cost. Rose cut diamonds remained popular through to the late nineteenth century when they rather fell out of fashion in favour of brilliant style cut stones. Today however they are experiencing something of a resurgence in popularity and we have used them recently in both rings and necklaces.