Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
August 15, 2010
I saw an old antique diamond being auctioned and it was advertised as a briolette cut diamond. What does that mean? What does a briolette cut look like? Where does the word briolette come from? Is it a popular cut? How come I've never heard of this diamond cut before?
August 24, 2010
The briolette cut is almost extinct, but it was once all the rage. The cut is actually 800 years old! In 18th and 19th century France, the briolette was especially popular and was used in pendants earrings and necklaces. Interestingly, the 1930s saw a resurgence of briolette cut diamonds in the US. There are a number of famous diamonds that have a briolette cut including the Briolette of India whose owners remain anonymous. The actual term, briolette, comes from "brio" which is the French word for spirit, vivacity, or liveliness. It is in the "drop cut" family which is a way of making a pear-shaped stone that gracefully hangs from pendants, earrings and necklaces. The briolette is specifically an elongated pear-shaped stone whose surface is covered with triangular or rectangular facets. It looks very much like a tear-drop; pointed at one end, rounded at the other, and without a girdle. This means that the briolette is a "modified double-rose cut. Why would someone want to cut a diamond in this way? Well, a diamond in the shape of a faceted teardrop can be looked upon from all sides. There is no table, crown, or pavilion, and so light can enter through the triangular or rectangular facets from any side of the diamond. The unique feature of the briolette is that the beauty of the stone can be appreciated from all sides, at any angle, and not restricted to a table as in the conventional diamond, cut with a table, crown and pavilion. With the briolette cut, light can enter the diamond through the triangular or rectangular facets from any side, which means that most of this light is refracted and exits the diamond through the opposite side. Because of this, the briolette can never be as brilliant as conventionally cut stones. Earrings are one of the best ways to wear them since they then scatter light around them and don't simply reflect the light back in one direction. But because briolette diamonds are almost always set from the top only, dangling from their mounting, it's best that they be extremely clear, without any inclusions since inclusions can easily be detected.
