How Did The Round Brilliant Become How We Know It Today?

The most popular and known shape is the round brilliant, but many other shapes have been created over the years and perfected to become the charming round brilliant we know today.

There were many forms fashioned over the years but here are a couple of the most well-known.

One of the first cuts was created in 1450’s and was a hexagon shape and didn’t have as many facets. 

Such shapes that were fashioned included the Single cuts, which housed approximately 18 facets.

The modern single cut was then introduced with a rounder shape. This is when the round brilliant started to take its form.

From here, more cutting styles were produced & perfected such as the Old swiss cut, Old European cut.

Finally, the Modern Round brilliant Cut was formed. Credit for the first round brilliant cut was attributed to Henry Morse in the 1860’s. 

With the removal of the cullet to enhance the centre’s refraction, the star & kite facets introduced to angle the light and the pavilion perfected to the beautiful star shape we see today. By the 1900’s his shape and proportions were the new norm and the angles and percentages were perfected by Tolkowsky in 1919. With maximum refraction and more table retention this is how the Round Brilliant came to be.