swiss cut versus transitional cut

[:)]

At the gem show this weekend I was walking by a guy selling estate items - jewelry, watches, etc. I stopped to look at his booth - I immediately focused in on what appeared to me to be a transitional cut diamond (still in its setting). I asked if it was a transitional cut and he replied that it is a swiss cut (Darn, and I was so proud of myself for about 2 seconds when I thought I had identified the type of cut!!). He said swiss cut was from 1890-1920. What would be the expected visual differences between the two? There is not much out there on swiss cuts aside from facet #. Thanks
Also, does anyone have any pics of both that they could perhaps place side by side to learn how to visually compare them? Thank you!

 

[oldminer]

Swiss cut diamonds are still being cut occasionally. They are an in between of single cut and full cut styles. The upper girdle facets on a full cut number 16. They are unsplit on a Swiss cut and number 8. There are no upper girdle facets on a single cut, only 8 main facets.

Most of the time Swiss cuts are small diamonds. I don''t think I have ever seen any larger than 3/8 of a carat. There are old European cut versions and more modern cut versions. They really don''t look a lot different than full cut diamonds when you have .05ct size ones to examine in a piece of jewelry.

 

[pricescope]

Thank you Dave for sharing your knowledge with us, old cut have some real charm to them and i know you are a big fan too.
Do you think they are coming back, maybe in bigger sizes too?

 

[widget]

Here''s a picture posted before of a ring from Nelson Rarities. According to them, the diamonds are Swiss cut.

They''re bigger, and in my opinion, yummy...

widget

 

[oldminer]

The side diamonds in your emerald ring are French Cut, not Swiss cut. Swiss cuts are ROUND in outline. French Cuts are the early hint of princess cuts.

There is really no reason or demand for Swiss cuts to make a strong return. They are nice in small sizes, but not of major benefit in price or appearance.

 

[:)]

Date: 12/4/2006 7:50:51 AM
Author: oldminer
Swiss cut diamonds are still being cut occasionally. They are an in between of single cut and full cut styles. The upper girdle facets on a full cut number 16. They are unsplit on a Swiss cut and number 8. There are no upper girdle facets on a single cut, only 8 main facets.

Most of the time Swiss cuts are small diamonds. I don''t think I have ever seen any larger than 3/8 of a carat. There are old European cut versions and more modern cut versions. They really don''t look a lot different than full cut diamonds when you have .05ct size ones to examine in a piece of jewelry.

Thank you all for responding. The piece he had was an old estate piece. It was 2.05 carats center with tiny side stones around the band (I believe the tcw was 2.5). I am wondering now if maybe it really wasn''t actually a swiss cut.
Is there a book on cuts of diamonds or history of diamond cuts that anyone would recommend to read/purchase?