Fancy Rosettes

(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:

Other types of diamond Rosette seem to have existed but since they are known only from paintings (some of which have been listed and discussed by Fritz Falk) it is impossible to give accurate descriptions of the gems used in their composition. I have come to believe that the Rosettes Falk lists and those which I have examined myself in paintings were all exceptional designs resulting from deliberate experiments or from attempts to emulate top quality Rosettes produced by well-established cutters.

On a small domestic altar dating from the early seventeenth century, made in the Imperial Court Workshop in Prague, there is a nine-petalled Double Rosette—the only one of its kind I have ever come across. It is about 22cm in diameter, with components of a standard type, but each stone is individually set. The usual ‘pistil’ in the center of the ‘flower’ is replaced by a group of thin wires terminating in small enamel globes. The composition is apparently made up of stones from an ordinary Rosette which was broken up, and the diamonds are badly soiled. The stones are colorless but appear quite yellow because of the heavy mounting.