I love Old Mine cut diamonds, I think they offer a very special type of sparkle and while not for everyone as a Graduate Gemologist (GIA) I find them delightful.

Old Mine Cut diamonds are an early form of a brilliant cut with a nearly square or cushion shaped girdle or outline, a high crown, a small table, a deep pavillion and a very large culet.  It can also be called and Old Miner, Mine Cut, Peruzzi cut or triple cut.

Diamonds are hard to cut, even today with laser drive saws.  Imagine how hard a diamond was to cut with a water or gas driven saw or wheels.

The most well formed rough diamond crystals form in an octahedran pattern.  Imagine two (2) pyramids stuck together at the base.  Cutters would lop of the top point to make the table, and lop off the bottom point to make the culet, round out the girde and place symmetrical facets and you have an Old Mine cut.  This was frankly done out of neccesity as the technology wasnt developed to make finer "makes" .  Old Mine cut diamonds were routinely cut until about circa 1925.

Old mine cut diamonds show a great deal of dispersion (colored light return) becasue they have large crowns and small tables.  This breaks light up into specral hues (the blue green yellow of the rainbow) and makes Old Mine cut diamond rally POP.

The next step in the  diamond cutting lexicon is the Old European Cut diamond.

Katrina Hess Graduate Gemologist (GIA)