Briolettes

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

A Bead pointed at one end and blunt at the other is known as a Briolette. One also comes across the term brillolette, which may well have been derived from the French briller, to sparkle. The name Briolette is relatively new; old inventories refer to diamonds of this shape only as pendants, so they are not always easy to identify. It is only when we find drawings like those by Tavernier and Clestscher that we can be sure that a gem is Briolette. Some writers have claimed that Briolettes, like Mughal Cuts, are a variety of the Baroque Rose Cut. However, very few Briolettes have the necessary hexagonal grouping of six triangular facets, and even if you occasionally come across one with a rounded bottom which, seen from below, looks like a full Rose Cut, a Rose Cut has a girdle and a flat bottom and a Briolette has neither. In most cases Briolettes are described as briolets or pendeloques, but I have come across a great variety of terms such as demi-briolet, briolette irregulière, carré, rouleau, pointue, amande pointue, olive and even navette (which means boat-shaped, but on this occasion was used to describe a drop!)

Tavernier sold two Briolettes to Louis XIV. Howevever, he does not use any special term for these diamonds; it is possible to determine what they were only from his drawings. A systematic and very detailed catalogue of Henry Philip Hope’s famous collection of pearls and precious stones was compiled by Bram Hertz and published in 1839, the year of Hope’s death. It contains excellent descriptions, as well as sketches, of the diamonds. The uncommonly fine quality of the Hope Briolettes suggests that the collector had many gems of this type to choose from. The following quotations are all from Hertz’s catalogue:

- ‘A very fine diamond from the mines of Golconda, of the purest crystalline water, and cut as a briolet. It differs, however, from the general form of briolets, which are usually of the shape of a pear or drop; but this specimen has a cylindrical form, with a conical termination at both ends; the facets are likewise different from those of the briolets in general, as these latter always present on their surface a number facets which cross each other in an oblique direction: the surface of the present, however, is cut in narrow facets, joining each other, and running in a perpendicular direction. This beautiful and rare gem formerly belonged to the crown jewels of Portugal: it is mounted with a gold enamelled cap, and hangs in a black enamelled ring, set with seven table diamonds, evidently the work of some clever artist of the Cinquecento. Weight 44 grains (appr.11.3 ct).’ This description suggests that it was a Briolette dating from te sixteenth century and therefore an early historical cut.

- ‘A briolet diamond, of a pear shape, it differs in cutting from the brilliant, particularly in its round form and the numerous small facets on it. The Indian diamond-cutters alone are able to cut the briolet. The present specimen is of fine water and beautiful workmanship and deserves well its place in the collection. Weight 26 3/32 (appr. 6.7ct)’.

- ‘A fine briolet diamond, of a pear shape and straw color, and is most beautifully cut: it has a little flaw.....Weight 46 7/8 (appr. 12ct).’

- ‘A very fine briolet drop, of the purest crystalline water, cut all round with elongated lozenge facets, having intermediate acute triangular facets above and below.... Weight 10 ¾ grains (appr. 2.75ct)’.

The Duke of Brunswick had an even larger collection of Briolettes, but they were not of such high quality. He assembled the collection between the years 1843 and 1859; it contains a total of fifty-one Briolettes, each weighing between 8 and 54 ¼ carats. One pair is said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette, but I have not found any evidence to support this assertion. A little later, in 1669, we have Tavernier’s drawing of two Briolettes which he brought to France from India. However, I can find no mention of thtem in the French inventories. Were they, perhaps, sold abroad?

Briolettes (continued)