If you are one of the lucky few to have bequeathed diamond estate jewelry from your grandmother, and if you happen to still be holding on to some of them, then here is some information you can use. Vintage diamonds are precious, but that doesn’t make new diamonds any less their worth. However, what’s bad is when you combine the two of them. To put things in a perspective, old diamonds do not sparkle as brilliantly as their newer counterparts. However that is not because of the qualitative differences, but that in cuts.
Modern cuts have come a long way from the Old miner’s cut that used to shape the rough diamonds in the last century. The old European cuts had larger facets, problem in symmetry, not adequate dimensions and such issues that kept the light from reflecting and refracting timely. So, if you have an old diamond that you want to put in a new piece of jewelry, you want to get it recut and polished before you do that.
Alternately, if you don’t want to spoil the vintage essence with a recut, you can still use the vintage cut diamond, as long as you choose designs that have antique details. The only place where a diamond reflecting an old miner’s cut will not look out of place is in a setting that has the vintage charm. Look for details like hand engravings, filigree, art deco details, etc. Just for the records, these works are still seen abundantly in new-age jewelry.
There is also a fix for diamonds that have changed a little color. The best way of masking that imperfection is to put them on gold ornaments. The colors of yellow and rose usually bounce off the gems giving them a hint of their own. That tricks the eyes to believe that the color in the stone is nothing but a shadow of the surrounding metals.
There are innumerable vintage diamonds that have specs of inclusions in them. Because diamonds could not be scientifically graded back in the day, jewelers treated all diamonds equally. But in today’s times, visible inclusions in a diamond is a matter of embarrassment. But there is still use for these sparklers. Group them to form accent stones on the sides of the central gem.
Vintage stones often do not sparkle as well as the new ones. That’s why they can be used in pendants and earrings where a close-up view is just out of the question.
