Mazarin Cut Diamond — A Seventeenth-Century Antique in the Modern Market
Mazarin Cut Diamond — A Seventeenth-Century Antique in the Modern Market
Diamonds fashioned in the 17-facet crown style of the Cardinal Mazarin era
A Mazarin cut diamond is a diamond fashioned in the early-brilliant style attributed to seventeenth-century French cutting practice and conventionally associated with Cardinal Jules Mazarin, who oversaw a major expansion of the French crown's diamond holdings in the mid-1600s. The cut features 17 facets on the crown — a central table, 8 main facets, and 8 corner facets — and represents the transitional stage between the simpler table cut and the more developed Peruzzi cut that followed later in the century.
Position in the cut succession
The development of brilliant cutting in Europe between the late sixteenth and early twentieth centuries proceeded by stepwise additions of facets. The table cut and the single cut dominated the Renaissance and early Baroque trade. The Mazarin cut — sometimes called the double cut — added a second tier of facets to produce more scintillation and modest fire. The Peruzzi cut at the end of the seventeenth century added a third tier, taking crown facet counts to 33. The old mine cut and old European cut of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries refined the geometry further, leading to the modern round brilliant standardised by Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919.
What a Mazarin-cut diamond looks like
Mazarin cuts are typically cushion-outlined or roughly square in plan, reflecting the crystal habits of the rough and the cutting tools of the period. The crown shows the 17-facet pattern — table, mains, and corner facets — with the pavilion exhibiting variable arrangements depending on the cutter and the period. The overall optical character is intermediate: substantially more light return and scintillation than a table cut, but considerably less than a modern brilliant.
The market for Mazarin cuts
Genuine seventeenth-century Mazarin-cut diamonds are rare in modern circulation. Most appear in museum collections — the Louvre and the Galerie d'Apollon in particular hold pieces with documented Mazarin association — or in antique jewellery of secure provenance. When such stones reach auction, they typically carry premium prices on both rarity and historical-interest grounds, with provenance documentation playing a significant role in valuation.
The term Mazarin cut is sometimes applied loosely in the modern trade to any seventeenth-century brilliant precursor, which can muddy catalogue descriptions. For collectors of antique diamonds, careful attention to facet counts, proportions, and provenance documentation is essential to distinguish a true Mazarin from a generic seventeenth-century cut or from a later imitation.
Care and setting
Antique Mazarin cuts are typically held in their original or period-contemporary settings, which form part of the historical value of the piece. Resetting an antique Mazarin into a modern mount destroys much of the collectible value and is generally inadvisable. Routine cleaning is by mild soap and warm water; ultrasonic cleaning is risky for antique stones with potential cleavage planes weakened by centuries of wear and for antique mounts whose solder joints may be fragile.