The emerald cut is a very popular diamond cut and many celebrities are a fan of emerald-cut diamonds. The celebrities who own emerald cut diamonds include Amal Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Elizabeth Taylor, Beyonce Kim Kardashian, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Lawrence, Kylie Minogue, and many more.
Many people associate this diamond cut with the late 1920s. However, emerald cut diamonds have been around since the late middle ages. This was much before diamonds were used in jewelry. People started making changes and improvements to the natural design of diamonds and for this they used polishing. The crystal faces of the diamond were polished to make an even facet and the process was called point cut. This process of polishing diamonds lasted until the middle of the 14th century.
The Table Cut And Old Single Cut
The pointcut improved much by the arrival of the 15th century. By the 15th century, less than half of the octahedral crystal faces of a diamond was sawn off, which resulted in the table cut. At this time, people started realizing the significance of a culet, that some of the table-cut diamonds had. Soon after that, four corner facets of diamonds were introduced. This was called the old single cut or the old eight cut.
These diamond cuts lacked any fire or brilliance but were liked for the hardness. A table cut diamond will appear black to the viewer. This is the reason for the popularity of colored gemstones like ruby and sapphire during this time.
The Brilliant Cut And Cushion Cuts
The first brilliant-cut diamonds were introduced around the mid-1700s. These diamonds were called Mazarins, after the Cardinal Jules Mazarin who had a collection of eighteen brilliant-cut diamonds. From the brilliant-cut diamonds, cushion cuts were developed.
The cushion-cut diamonds became popular in the eighteenth-century and from this cut, the emerald cut was developed. The emerald cut became common in the 1940s. Different diamond saws and tools were introduced around this time which helped in the introduction of more and more cuts.
The emerald cut underwent many improvements and replaced the step cut. This is because diamond cutters understood that the emerald cut can introduce more fire to the diamond. From there, the journey of emerald cut diamond began and it still stands as the favorite of many diamond lovers and celebrities.