European Cut Diamonds
The earliest known form of brilliant cut diamond, a European Cut or an Old European Cut is an old style of faceting in a round shape with a very small table, heavy crown and great overall depth. Because of the relatively simple hand tools employed by 19th century diamond cutters these stones are often cut in less than perfect fashion, but this advance from the earlier Mine Cut enabled the diamonds 58 facets to show broader reflective bands of brilliance returning back-up through the top portion of the diamond. This cutting style began to give way to the modern “American Ideal” cut circa 1900 as the mathematical properties of diamond cutting become better understood allowing more reflective brilliance from smaller stones.