Part of the beauty of antique diamond rings comes from the hand-cut gemstones. Each stone is unique and tends to have a warmer feel than it's more brilliant-looking modern counterparts. There are a few important diamond cuts that you will see in vintage rings:

Old European Cut: This diamond cut is an early version of the modern-day round brilliant cut and was popular in the 19th century. A diamond cut in the Old European style has a crown that is high, a large and flat culet, small table, and a round girdle. An Old European cut diamond has 58 facets is cut to follow the shape of the rough diamond to make use of as much of the gem as possible.

Old Mine Cut: This style was popular from the Georgian era in the 1700s through the Victorian era. It is characterized by the diamond having a square shape with rounded edges, a small table, high crown, and a culet that is large and flat. Just as the Old European cut was the forerunner of the modern brilliant cut, the Old Mine cut is an ancestor of the cushion cut.

Round Brilliant Cut: In the first half of hte 20th century, diamond cutters refined the shapes produced by the Old Mine cut and Old European cut and created the Round Brilliant cut. Although lacking the flat culet present in the previous styles, this cut retains the 58 facets of the Old European cut. The Round Brilliant cut came to popularity in the 1920s art deco period and remains a popular cut in a modified form today.