Girdled Briolettes

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

Girdled (or encircled) Briolettes are comparatively rare. They resemble ordinary Briolettes except that their overall faceting is separated into two equal parts by a girdle. They have sometimes been erroneously called Double Rose Cuts, even though the distribution of their triangular facets is quite different from that of the real Rose Cut. The purpose of the girdle is to allow the gem to be hung by a gold ring or band instead of having to be drilled at the pointed end. In fact, these two methods of suspending a stone are often combined, probably for extra security.

First identified in a portrait of Queen Maria Josepha of Saxony dated 1750, the diamond in her hairpin may well be the one which the court jeweler, Dinglinger, is reported to have sent to Warsaw for Augustus the Strong in 1713. The diamond was originally suspended from an enamelled eagle, then mounted on a flowered twig decorated with flowered gems. Now once again it hangs from the eagle’s beak.

When I examined this unique Briolette, I could not help marvelling at its beauty. It has frequently been described as being ‘very brilliant’, referring to its light effects. It is, in fact, a drop, but divided by a girdle so that it belongs to the Sancy Cut category, even though it is pendeloque-shaped, tapering to a point. Its forty facets are distributed much like those of a Rose Cut. The degree of precision of the whole cut is amazing, though I did detect a minor lack of symmetry characteristic of the Baroque, of the kind which gave diamonds of the period their special charm—a charm which has been lost with modern precision cutting. Unfortunately, the diamond has been damaged by careless handling (its abraded girdle alone would downgrade it today to Loupe Clean or Internally Flawless), unforgivable in view of its historical and intrinsic value. It displays a vivid fire, sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow.