A Mogul cut is a historic Indian cutting style that often followed the shape of the rough. It usually has a large flat base and an array of sloping or radial facets.
In more detail
Indian cutters used it from about the 16th to the 18th century. Mogul cuts are often irregular or asymmetrical, as in the Orlov diamond. Others have more symmetrical shapes, such as pendeloques or tables. One study classes the Grand Sapphire of Louis XIV as a Mogul cut, like the Tavernier Blue diamond.
Related terms
- Rose cut: A rose cut is a dome of triangular facets on a flat base: all crown and no pavilion.
- Old mine cut: An old mine cut is an antique cushion-shaped diamond of the 1700s and 1800s. It has the Peruzzi's 58 facets, cut more evenly by hand.
- Peruzzi cut: The Peruzzi, or triple cut, is a cushion brilliant of the late 1600s with 58 facets. Its 32-facet crown has 8 bezels, 8 stars and 16 upper halves.
- Mazarin cut: The Mazarin, or double cut, is the first brilliant, from the mid-1600s. It has 34 facets in all, on a cushion outline with a wide, open culet.
- Brilliant cut: A brilliant cut is a cutting style with a crown of facets above a pavilion. Its facet angles return light and spread it into fire.