European Cut Diamond Culet

Old european cut diamonds oec are an antique type diamond cut born of a time before modern technology enabled the precise geometry we see modern diamond cutters use.

European cut diamond culet.

The old european cut also has very long lower half facets accounting for at least 60 of the diamond s total depth. However old european cut diamonds aren t made for that. Because the culet of a diamond is such a small area a gemologist will typically view it with 10x magnification while grading the diamond. There is some overlap between the periods when both antique diamond cuts coexisted.

In the majority of diamonds the pavilion facets are uniformly cut at the proper angle and meet at a perfect point yielding no culet sometimes called a pointed culet. An old european cut diamond will have triangular facets while a round diamond s facets are thinner. Like the old mine cut diamonds cut into this shape possess a high crown small table and a large flat culet. The old european cut evolved from the old mine cut with their trademark small tables heavy crowns deep angles and large visible culet.

The culet pronounced kyoo lit of a diamond is the tiny point at the base of the pavilion where the facets of the pavilion meet. The old european cut diamond or old euro cut was the primary diamond shape used in the art deco era old mine cut diamonds or miner cut were used in victorian and edwardian eras. When the pavilion facets do not meet at a point the culet is a rough or polished facet. Because a culet is pointed and closed it is sharp and can be broken from high or hard impact.

On a diamond larger than 1 carat you can find the culet without even using a loupe. However the old european cut has a circular girdle. These are most typically found in old european and old miner cut diamonds with antique look and more traditional diamond cuts. One of the hallmarks of the old european cut diamonds is its visible culet.

Take a look at the rounded facet in the diamond of the picture above. Culet is often neglected because it is require to find open culet diamonds. Old european cut diamonds tend to have a large culet that s visible from the table of the diamond. They show more colored light.

With 58 facets it is the predecessor of today s modern round brilliant cut. So you might need stones with colors a grade or two higher to get a colorless look with an old european cut. For the most part diamonds with either a small culet or no culet at all are viewed as having a higher quality cut than diamonds with a large visible culet. To view the culet you can peer through the top of the diamond.