2.80ct Old Mine Cut

[NonAbsolut]

Hi everyone,

I am a looong time lurker and first time poster. Over the past few months I've visited this forum often to gain ideas and learn about diamonds. Now, I have my finished ring and I'd like to share! It feels strange to brag to my social circle, but I know that everyone here loves looking at diamonds! It was extremely helpful to me to browse everyone's "ring ****" and look at all of the beautiful jewelry on here. Anyway, what follow is a lot of photos. It's hard for me to get a really good shot of the ring, so I tried taking pictures in a few different lighting situations. I feel like none of the photos really capture the sparkle and beauty of the diamond, but I guess that's a common problem.

The specs:

The main diamond is a 2.80ct old mine cut diamond. Clarity is Sl1 and color is L.
The band is 14kt. yellow and white gold with 16 diamonds on the band and 2 "surprise diamonds" under the 6-prong basket. The band is .64 cts.
The ring was custom made to match the main diamond.

 

[NonAbsolut]

 

[NonAbsolut]

 

[NonAbsolut]

 

[Andelain]

 

[Dreamer_D]

It is a beautiful ring! You must love it so much!

(as an aside, I would not call your diamond an old mine cut I can't tell from the pictures exactly the era, but it looks more like a later european cut, or a transitional, or an early modern brilliant to my eye!)

 

[yennyfire]

Congrats on your ring! I love the profile!

 

[WhoaNelly]

Beautiful ring: thank you for sharing! Looks great on your hand as well. Enjoy in good health, A

 

[NonAbsolut]

Thank you all for the kind comments! I'm definitely very exited about this ring.

(as an aside, I would not call your diamond an old mine cut I can't tell from the pictures exactly the era, but it looks more like a later european cut, or a transitional, or an early modern brilliant to my eye!)

Hi Dreamer, I took the ring to be appraised and they called it an old mine cut, as did another jeweler who saw it. Perhaps the pictures just don't capture the stone well enough for you to tell? Of course, I suppose it's also possible that the jewelers were mistaken. I know the history of the stone back until the late 1930s, but beyond that I'm not sure. I don't know if it was cut then or if it is older than that.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Thank you all for the kind comments! I'm definitely very exited about this ring.

(as an aside, I would not call your diamond an old mine cut I can't tell from the pictures exactly the era, but it looks more like a later european cut, or a transitional, or an early modern brilliant to my eye!)

Hi Dreamer, I took the ring to be appraised and they called it an old mine cut, as did another jeweler who saw it. Perhaps the pictures just don't capture the stone well enough for you to tell? Of course, I suppose it's also possible that the jewelers were mistaken. I know the history of the stone back until the late 1930s, but beyond that I'm not sure. I don't know if it was cut then or if it is older than that.

Well, it does not matter for your appreciation of the stone or its beauty, but I do think its fun to consider when these old cuts were cut! Is it a family stone?

I really would not classify that as an old mine cut, I can tell enough from the photos you posted. An OMC look more like Haven's diamond -- think super small table, very tall pillowy crown, often with kozibe, a large culet, and very short lower halves creating an almost maltese cross under the table -- or at least a large pie-type facet pattern under the table. Your diamond has a shallower crown and larger table, suggesting it was cut after they developed the skill to yield two diamonds from the same rough -- before that ability was developed, in the old min cut era, a single diamond was yielded from a piece of rough and thus the shape of OMCs was born to use ALL the rough creating a very high pillowy crown. The facet patterning in your diamond also suggest to me that it has longer lower halves, very long, over 70% I wager. All of these things make me think it was indeed cut in the 1930 at the earliest! OMC are mostly pre-1900s. I wager the appraisers and jewelers you saw don't know all the terms and nuances of old cuts and did not try to date it with a label. Only obsessives and specialists in old cuts even know more than one term, and even some specialists don't distinguish most past Old European Cut.

 

[Enerchi]

I love it!! LOVE IT!! The setting is gorgeous and I love the undermount details--- fantastic!! It is a beautifully warm diamond - just PERFECT, imo!!

Congrats on the gorgeous ring and feel free to overload us with a TON more pics...!

 

[Laila619]

Really beautiful!!

 

[patricias]

Nice color on the stone. I think the warmer diamonds-in the L-Z-range-are underappreciated, so it's nice to see someone set one of these lovelies in a beautiful setting. Enjoy!

 

[NonAbsolut]

Thank you all for the kind comments! I'm definitely very exited about this ring.

(as an aside, I would not call your diamond an old mine cut I can't tell from the pictures exactly the era, but it looks more like a later european cut, or a transitional, or an early modern brilliant to my eye!)

Hi Dreamer, I took the ring to be appraised and they called it an old mine cut, as did another jeweler who saw it. Perhaps the pictures just don't capture the stone well enough for you to tell? Of course, I suppose it's also possible that the jewelers were mistaken. I know the history of the stone back until the late 1930s, but beyond that I'm not sure. I don't know if it was cut then or if it is older than that.

Well, it does not matter for your appreciation of the stone or its beauty, but I do think its fun to consider when these old cuts were cut! Is it a family stone?

I really would not classify that as an old mine cut, I can tell enough from the photos you posted. An OMC look more like Haven's diamond -- think super small table, very tall pillowy crown, often with kozibe, a large culet, and very short lower halves creating an almost maltese cross under the table -- or at least a large pie-type facet pattern under the table. Your diamond has a shallower crown and larger table, suggesting it was cut after they developed the skill to yield two diamonds from the same rough -- before that ability was developed, in the old min cut era, a single diamond was yielded from a piece of rough and thus the shape of OMCs was born to use ALL the rough creating a very high pillowy crown. The facet patterning in your diamond also suggest to me that it has longer lower halves, very long, over 70% I wager. All of these things make me think it was indeed cut in the 1930 at the earliest! OMC are mostly pre-1900s. I wager the appraisers and jewelers you saw don't know all the terms and nuances of old cuts and did not try to date it with a label. Only obsessives and specialists in old cuts even know more than one term, and even some specialists don't distinguish most past Old European Cut.

Very interesting, thanks for all of the information. Yes, it's a family stone--it belonged to my fiance's grandmother, and we believe that her husband got it from his parents. However, they would have purchased it later in life, so probably not too much before the 30s. While I love the stone regardless of the technical definition, it's very nice to learn more about it.

As a side note, do you think it makes any difference if my stone is listed incorrectly (i.e. "old mine cut" vs. "old european cut") on my appraisal? I insured it using the appraisal value, but I don't think this should make any difference since the value was determined based on the stone's characteristics.

 

[NonAbsolut]

Thanks Enerchi, Laila619, and Patricias! I'm also really falling in love with the warm color...it has a lot of character and sparkles just as beautifully as a whiter diamond.

 

[Dreamer_D]

How lucky to have a family stone!

As a side note, do you think it makes any difference if my stone is listed incorrectly (i.e. "old mine cut" vs. "old european cut") on my appraisal? I insured it using the appraisal value, but I don't think this should make any difference since the value was determined based on the stone's characteristics.

The value likely won't change based on the name. But I can imagine it posing some challenges in the event of a loss. If THEY will find the replacement, then you need as much accurate documentation of "like kind and quality" as you can get. They might look for an Old Mine Cut that won't appeal to you at all if you want something that looks like your diamond! If your insurance will allow YOU to find the replacement from a jeweler of your choice, as you can with Jewelers Mutual and maybe some other companies, then it might matter less as you could look for a stone with a similar appearance. With an old cut, I personally prefer to have insurance that lets me choose the vendor and the diamond in the event of a loss or necessary repolishing for damage etc. I use Jewelers Mutual for my own old cut. Either way, though, you should try to take some photos that are looking straight on into the face of the diamond to show the facet patterning. It will help you to document the type of cut you have.

 

[hearts-arrows_girl]

Very pretty ring.

 

[NonAbsolut]

How lucky to have a family stone!

As a side note, do you think it makes any difference if my stone is listed incorrectly (i.e. "old mine cut" vs. "old european cut") on my appraisal? I insured it using the appraisal value, but I don't think this should make any difference since the value was determined based on the stone's characteristics.

The value likely won't change based on the name. But I can imagine it posing some challenges in the event of a loss. If THEY will find the replacement, then you need as much accurate documentation of "like kind and quality" as you can get. They might look for an Old Mine Cut that won't appeal to you at all if you want something that looks like your diamond! If your insurance will allow YOU to find the replacement from a jeweler of your choice, as you can with Jewelers Mutual and maybe some other companies, then it might matter less as you could look for a stone with a similar appearance. With an old cut, I personally prefer to have insurance that lets me choose the vendor and the diamond in the event of a loss or necessary repolishing for damage etc. I use Jewelers Mutual for my own old cut. Either way, though, you should try to take some photos that are looking straight on into the face of the diamond to show the facet patterning. It will help you to document the type of cut you have.

Good to know. The insurance company mentioned that they would give me the option of taking cash or having them replace the ring, but I'll confirm just to be sure. Thanks for all of your information, Dreamer!

 

[OreoRosies86]

Really pretty and a lovely warmth to it! I would love to see some head on shots of the facet pattern.