When most people think of an ideal diamond, it is flawless — pure white, perfectly symmetrical and sparkling.
But there is a trend that favors individuality, even quirkiness, over perfection in a diamond. More people are seeking diamonds with slight imperfections that illustrate a stone’s origin in nature and old-style cuts that offer a subtle twinkle rather than an intense sparkle.
“People’s definition of a diamond’s beauty is opening up,” said Rebecca Selva, the creative director of Fred Leighton, a New York jeweler that sells vintage and contemporary pieces. “They are drawn to antique diamonds and old-style cuts, which come in warmer tones, like light brown or blush; they are juicy stones with character.”
These older cuts, created between the 1700s and 1930s, are characterized by wide facets and large culets, the term for the point at the bottom of the gem where the facets converge. Cut by hand, often by candlelight in the early days, the diamonds may have visible imperfections in their preparation, but the results often are described by designers as softer, more romantic stones.
An example is the old mine cut, which creates a squarish stone with rounded corners and a high crown (the top portion of the diamond), a style popular in the Georgian and Victorian eras. Next came the old European cut, producing a rounded stone with a large table (the flat surface on top of the diamond), which prevailed from the 1890s to 1930s. In the early 1900s, when machinery was introduced to make cutting more efficient, diamonds became precise and uniform. Today’s cutters are guided by technology and laser machines to maximize brilliance and minimize waste.
Since the 1940s, when the Gemological Institute of America (G.I.A.) introduced the 4C’s (color, clarity, cut and carat) as the standard to grade and price diamonds, consumers have been trained to think stones that are graded higher are better, and therefore more expensive.
Over time, diamond purchases became “academic,” said Lauren DeYoung, a sixth-generation New York jeweler who offers vintage jewelry and custom engagement rings. “Buyers were too focused on the 4C’s paperwork.
“More people today want to express their own style in a diamond ring,” she said. “They want something unique and are less focused on the grades.”
Even seasoned experts are captivated by the old cuts.
“There is a charm to older diamond cuts; I tend to like those more myself,” said Tom Moses, an executive vice president at the G.I.A. and one of the industry’s leading diamond experts.
The older cuts sometimes lack brilliance, he said, because artisans were cutting them to make interesting patterns. “The result is often an interplay of light and dark patterns along with scintillation in the diamond,” he said. “They have character and charm.”
Shift to Subtlety
The growing interest in vintage diamonds and new diamonds cut like the old styles is partly a change in taste. Not everyone wants a huge flashy stone like Lady Gaga’s oval diamond engagement ring, which observers have estimated at as many as 20 carats.
And more subtle diamonds that do not draw the kind of attention that can come with a sparkly rock seem to be in harmony with today’s casual lifestyle.
Jean Prounis’s jewelry designs reflect that kind of understated vibe. Her new Vow bridal collection features vintage diamonds, which she buys from estate dealers, in her signature handmade 22-karat recycled gold designs, inspired by ancient Greek and Roman jewelry.
“There is an unlearning of how we think diamonds should look,” Ms. Prounis said. For generations, the prong setting was the most popular engagement ring style, she said, but more brides now are opting for bezel-set rings (an older design in which the stone is set flush with the metal). It is a style that Ms. Prounis has used since she established her Prounis Jewelry business in New York in 2017.
“I’m working with old antique cuts with wide wonky large facets that have a warmer color and work well with warmer gold,” she added.
The warm glow that often draws people to old diamonds is perceived as negative in new cut stones, which are prized for their whiteness on the color grading scale.
“People are more tolerant of imperfections when it comes to an old stone,” said Caroline Morrissey, a director and the head of jewelry at Bonhams in New York. New stones are held to a higher standard because they are cut with the latest technology and lasers, and clients expect perfection; is almost impossible to find a century-old diamond that is flawless, she said.
When shopping for a modern diamond, clients can search by carat weight, cut and color, but with a vintage diamond they need to be more flexible. “You can’t just order an old diamond, it’s a more organic way of purchasing a stone,” Ms. Morrissey said. “You need to see the stones and find the one you connect with — it’s more personal.”
In some cases, vintage stones can offer better value because they are typically graded lower on a G.I.A. certificate, said Corina Madilian, a co-owner of Single Stone, a jeweler in Los Angeles that specializes in vintage diamonds in modern settings. “Our sweet spot is two- to two-and-a-half-carat diamonds, and if you sacrifice a little on color, you can go even larger for the same price,” she said.
She added that one reason more young people are attracted to distinctive vintage stones is the proliferation of synthetic diamonds.
“The younger generation is turned off by lab-grown diamonds,” Ms. Madilian said. “They see people walking around with a four- to five-carat really white diamond ring, and wonder is it real or lab grown. A vintage stone looks different, and people will know it’s real.”
New Diamond, Old Cut
When Hayley Litchfield, a businesswoman in Brooklyn, and her fiancé went to Ms. DeYoung’s salon in December to shop for an engagement ring, she liked the idea of a recycled diamond. After an initial conversation, Ms. DeYoung presented five stones, and Ms. Litchfield fell in love with a vintage 2.23-carat diamond with a cushion cut, which can be square or rectangular with round corners.
For the diamond she chose a yellow gold bezel setting, which she described as a chunky signet ring style. “It’s sleek, classy, and the diamond reflects the light in a way that’s hard to put into words that make it feel very unique,” she said.
Ms. Litchfield was lucky to find a vintage stone that “spoke to her,” Ms. DeYoung said, noting that they often are hard to track down, so she also sources new diamonds cut in the old style.
To meet the demand, three years ago Fred Leighton created the Fred Leighton Round diamond in the style of an old European cut. The new stones provide consistent sizes and quality for designs that require matching stones, such as stud earrings, bangles and rivière necklaces.
Just because the diamonds are old, does not mean the jewelry is dated. Rather, Fred Leighton is positioning old-style cuts in oxidized silver and gold collets settings in a simple rivière necklace that Ms. Selva described as “timeless, clean designs that look cool and beautiful on any aged person.”
Single Stone is known for setting old European and cushion cuts in contemporary pendant necklaces, bold rings and minimalist earrings.
Ms. Madilian said that with all the attention on old diamonds, clients are increasingly bringing in family heirlooms to reset their stones in stylish new ways and give them a second life.
“People used to bring in their grandmother’s stone and point out the imperfections,” she said. “Now they see the beauty in the old stones with their imperfections.”
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