Bored of oval and pear shaped diamonds? High jewellery houses Cartier and Chaumet are going beyond traditional gem cuts, bringing a contemporary freshness to vintage-inspired luxury collections

Dec 28 , 2022

Metamorphosis butterfly with trapezoid diamonds and marquise brown diamonds, on display at TEFAF 2022. Photo: Handout

Gem-cutting styles, especially for diamonds, are getting a reboot as designers look at different ways of adding artistic intrigue to their jewels

Funky geometric shapes like trilliants, kites and trapezoids are antique cuts that have recently become popular in bridal jewellery because of their originality

Oval-, pear- or square-cut gems seem clear enough, but what would you expect from a trilliant, trapezoid or tapered baguette cut? These are just three of the lesser-known treatments being applied to stones by designers looking to amp up and differentiate their work.

Karet platinum ring with diamonds. Photo: Handout

High jewellery collections unveiled during the summer revealed plenty of familiar shapes. But we also saw a revival for the vintage marquise, a cut that dates back to the 18th century, with a beautiful elliptical shape and less recognisable geometric cuts, echoing the diamond’s own natural octahedral structure. An impressive example is one of Cartier’s high jewellery cocktail rings in its Beautés du Monde collection. Called Karet, it has two triangular-shaped diamonds that are portrait-cut, which produces thin, flat stones, and they are set in platinum.

Anna Hu’s stunning Metamorphosis bracelet meanwhile highlights the newer trapezoid shape along with brown marquise diamonds.

An elongated shield-cut adds elegance to a pair of diamond drop earrings by Boghossian, set alongside their custom “flame” cut, based on the “i” in their logo.

Other funky geometric shapes making the cut, as it were, are trilliants – triangles softened with convex curves along each side – and kites, similarly triangular, with two corners lopped off. These are in fact antique cuts that recently became newly popular in bridal jewellery for their originality.

The Iwana necklace in platinum with emeralds and diamonds, from the Beautés du Monde collection. Photo: Handout

The hexagon is another shape adding intrigue to high jewellery, bridal and cocktail rings. The Iwana necklace, also from the Beautés du Monde collection features three spectacular hexagonal-shaped cabochon emeralds among a myriad of smaller diamonds.

Chaumet calls the cut Taille Impératrice and it anchors its Bee My Love collection. It comprises 88 facets, orienting the diamond to capture more light and bounce it back to increase the stone’s intensity. This particular cut is seen again in gold bangles and earrings from the collection.

Diamond specialist Messika’s Creole earrings feature a selection of coloured diamonds cut in pear, cushion and shield shapes, balanced within the hoops.