I have recently been looking at older diamonds.
Of course that's a redundant statement- all diamonds are old!

What about diamonds cut many years ago?
I have not studied all the differences that make one stone an Old Miner, and another an OEC.
Hopefully some of our members who have experience will add to the thread.

I was talking to Sam Spade- who's really a wellspring of knowledge. He was a diamond cutter before World War II. He has a very "New York" way of looking at things.
The diamond business has a few capitols- New York City has been the capitol of the diamond business in America since...well, always?

To understand what happens to old diamonds, let's take a hypothetical example.
A diamond is passed down to a family member who decides to sell it.
There's a fair likelihood they are going to try to sell it to a dealer.
Once the stone is in the hands of a dealer, we have to assume it will be properly assessed.
If it's a high color stone, which is suitable for a re-cut, generally, it will be recut.
This means that if a dealer is offering a stone we can assume it's not a candidate for re-cut.

Here's a stone we looked at today.
This particular diamond has even more signs of age.


The red arrows point to places where the girdle has been repaired- you can see a slight inward bowing at those areas.
The white arrows point to damage on still existing on the girdle.

Anyway, if anyone wants to add or correct me- I'd love to learn more about old diamonds.

I do have another smaller Old Miner Diamond to show you guys tomorrow....

Augh!  You're going to kill me David!  I'm a huge sucker for antique cuts.  I love the personality they have.

Someday, I want a nice, warm, honking OMC... 

What's the size of the one in the photo?

I love these old cut diamonds - can't wait to see the others you have, David.

Carol   

Oh, honey! You are not going to have to settle for that, polished or otherwise!  Life has a way of working out, I think.

Tell you what though, if that old cut called my name any louder, you'd hear it in space.

How I love old cuts. More, more, more.

Jen

I just got some very interesting info from another dealer friend.

Old Miner diamonds are older and different from OEC ( old European cut) primarily due to the girdle.
The girdle on an old miner as simply polished like the other facets- meaning you won't really see a lot of "round" old miner.
Around 1890 technology increased to where a "Girdling Machine" was developed.
This allowed the cutter to spin the diamond against the polishing surface in such a way to make it round.
Imagine taking a diamond, and attaching it "table down" on the end of a dowel- imagine that the dowel can spin rapidly, and that you can grind the diamond's edge- the rotating motion makes the diamond round.

OK- I probably just confused the heck out of everyone!

But I will have photos of a new 1.17ct we're putting in stock later today.....

Possibly since it was called New Amsterdam?

One other tidbit: there are at least four variants on the "old miner" - from most recent to oldest: the "recent" Old Mine Cut, the Peruzzi, the Mazarin and the Old English (even though the last one would be recognisably different from what most today would call an Old Miner - the principle is still the same: a high crown with a cushion-like outline and a steep pavillion)

David,

Was there once a cut called a 'rose' that was similar to an OMC?

Oh I love that!!!!  I would love it in the antique setting!!

http://rockdiamond.c...-prong-antique-style

I love that idea!

I love love love the old cuts!!!

As far as I know (and I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination), omcs were the precursor to oecs, then transistionals then rbcs. You get different opinions from different people when you try to get them define the difference between and omc and and oec on some stones. one omc I have is quite oval shaped and the appraisail I have (from an antique dealer that deals in a large amount of estate and vintage jewelry) called it an oec. I disagree but what do I know?! I get the impression that oecs are more round whereas omcs are more squarish-oval-lopsided and waaay more interesting!!

Also, I think rose cuts have faceting only on one side, they're flat on the other...unless they are a double rose cut. I think DL has a yellow double rose cut set into a ring..there's probably some photos of it somewhere...beautiful ring!!

What's the price on the 2.37?

I get a message saying the video is no longer available...

That 1.17 looks like it has polka dots all over it! Is that due to reflection of the flat culet? Forgive me if this is incorrect terminology. Any way that you look at it though, it's an interesting stone.

Quite agree, GL.  I love the stone and think it would look fantastic in that setting. 

Carol