Renaissance point cut diamond and gold ring
By Dr. Akitsugu Sato, first published in Facette 30 (March 2026)
Since the beginning of human history, jewellery has been created, with its materials, including gemstones and precious metals, being reused to make new pieces. However, some pieces avoided such reuse and now provide key insights into the historical evolution of gemstone fashioning. Below, we present a Renaissance ring showcasing one of the earliest styles of diamond cutting.
The studied ring features a hoop that terminates in scrolled shoulders adorned with bluish-black enamel detailing, supporting a raised box bezel with double arches on each side. The bezel is set with a colourless point-cut stone, and fragments of orange and white enamel remain on the back and side of the bezel, respectively. A scratched number, 25772 (or possibly 25771), can be seen on the hoop; this was probably a stock number given by an antique dealer when the ring was first sold. The ring is in the typical Renaissance style, and a similar 16th-century point-cut diamond ring can be found in Diana Scarisbrick’s book Rings (2007, cat. 427).
The colourless stone was confirmed to be a diamond due to the presence of a clear Raman peak at 1332 cm-1. FTIR analysis revealed that the diamond is type IaAB. The diamond exhibited stronger whitish-blue fluorescence under long-wave ultraviolet (LWUV, 365 nm) than short- wave ultraviolet (SWUV, 254 nm) light. Additionally, deformed triangular growth patterns and trigons can be observed on the unpolished surface of the octahedron embedded in the box bezel, as well as on its octahedral faces. The UV reaction and the presence of growth patterns and trigons indicate that the diamond is natural. The inside of the diamond is very clean, with only one transparent inclusion (unidentified) observed.
Advanced JewelleryGenerally, the type of diamond or its inclusions do not help to identify its origin. Until the Brazilian diamond mines were established in 1725, India and Borneo were the only sources of diamonds. Although diamonds from Borneo were traded from at least the late 16th century (Ogden, 2005), considering the volume of the supply, the diamond set in this ring is more likely to have originated in India.
One of the diamond’s most remarkable gemmological features is its cutting style. It is a point cut, resembling a pyramid while retaining the natural octahedral shape of the diamond crystal. Such point-cut diamonds were sometimes confused with natural octahedra; however, they are polished from natural octahedra to create regular pyramid faces and a sharp point. This is the earliest style of diamond cut (Ogden, 2018). Interestingly, the diamond in this ring was only polished on the top side; the bottom part, which is covered by the box bezel, still bears growth marks and trigons on the rough crystal faces. Since antiquity, diamonds have been known for their unbreakable and unpolishable nature, as represented by their Latin name, ‘adamas’. Clear descriptions of diamond cutting did not emerge until the late 14th to early 15th centuries. It is no coincidence that the horizontal rotating scaife was adopted for gemstone cutting during this period, as it enables more precise polishing with smooth, fast, continuous rotary motion. Before the development of the rotating scaife, a back-and-forth hand rubbing motion on a metal plate was used for stone polishing. In this ring, the embedded side of the pyramid is unpolished, and the rough surfaces can be seen from above. Not polishing the bottom is not optimal for internal light reflection, but this was probably tolerated as the ability to scratch other materials with a diamond (e.g. writing a message on a glass) was considered more important than its optical effect. Another feature that appears primitive
from our perspective is the embedded bottom half of the pyramid. If the diamond were cut in half through the middle, it could be used to make another ring in a similar style. However, the earliest description of diamond sawing dates to the early 17th century, so this technique was probably not commonplace when the ring was developed (Ogden, 2024). Therefore, the only way to highlight the stone’s perfect pyramidal shape was to sacrifice the bottom half of the stone.
By the end of the 16th century, the point cut had become less popular and was gradually replaced by the table cut, which cut off the top of the point cut’s pyramid. Improved diamond-cutting technology, increased trade with the East, and an enormous supply from Brazil after the 18th century then facilitated the invention of new styles, such as the single cut, the rose cut, and the early brilliant cut. These new cutting styles have more facets, enabling more light to be refracted and reflected through the newly added geometric facets, which show off a diamond’s fire and sparkle more effectively.
In conclusion, as mentioned at the beginning, gemstones set in antique pieces, fashioned in ways rarely seen nowadays, tell us about the evolution of gemstone fashioning. They reflect past technological limitations and the preferences of people in the past. Such contexts remind us that they had a different value for people living at that time compared to how we perceive them today.
For those who would like to learn more about this and other fascinating findings related to antique gems and jewellery, we recommend enrolling on our Advanced Jewellery course.
