Object Description
A pair of old cut diamond drop earrings by Hancocks. These earrings are designed as a single long line of old European cut diamonds, each in platinum claw set mount with articulation between each diamond. Each earring has eleven diamonds with the total weight of the twenty two diamonds coming to 6.10ct. To the reverse are platinum post and butterfly fittings.
Maker
Hancocks
Period
Contemporary
Origin
London
Gemstones
22 x Old European cut diamonds – total weight 6.10cts and of G VS grades
Setting
Platinum with maker’s mark and London assay marks
Weight
5.30 grams
Dimensions
Length: 6cm/2.3″
Diamond diameter: 5mm
Directors Notes
The old European brilliant cut is the forefather of today’s modern round brilliant cut diamond. It was developed towards the end of the 19th Century when new machinery was invented, in particular the motor-driven saw, which allowed diamonds to be cut in attractive, symmetrical round shapes without wasting the excess rough crystal that was cut off. This revolutionised the industry and gradually, through a process of trial and error, cutters discovered which proportions produced the finest balance of brilliance and fire within these new round stones. Diamonds were now able to dazzle even in the dimly candle-lit rooms of the turn of the century. Along with their characteristic polished culet facet, finely cut old European brilliants can be distinguished from their modern counterparts by their higher crowns and smaller table facets. These features combine to create a greater amount of fire (the coloured flashes of light you see in a diamond) from inside the stone than we typically see in modern cut diamonds. During the 1900s and 1910s the profile of these old European cut stones slowly starts to flatten out and later stones lose the depth of the older stones.