An Exclusive Look at the First Heart-Shaped Rose-Cut Diamond
The rose-cut diamond vastly differs from most diamond cuts you have seen. The average diamond cut is deep and comes to a point or edge so that it can be faceted on the underside, also known as the pavilion. These pavilion facets reflect light back to your eyes, giving diamonds their signature sparkle. A rose-cut diamond doesn’t have a pavilion, its bottom is flat, and its only facets are on its domed top. This cutting method was developed hundreds of years ago and gave rose-cut diamonds an amazingly unique look. A rose-cut diamond can be many shapes, most commonly round, oval, pear, or triangular, but there is one shape a rose-cut diamond has never been until now.
Designer and rose-cut diamond specialists 64 Facets have created the first-ever rose-cut diamond in a true heart shape. Only Natural Diamonds sat down with Gourav Soni, a founder of the family-owned brand, for an exclusive look at what makes the heart-shaped rose-cut a beautiful, technical achievement.
A natural diamond’s undeniable link to love led to the desire for a heart-shaped cut hundreds of years ago, almost as long as diamond cutting has existed. However, it has long been known as one of the most challenging shapes to cut. The cleft at the top of the heart cannot be cut and faceted inside by a traditional diamond polishing wheel and was historically done only with hand tools. Just one slip could result in a diamond split down the middle.
More recently, a specialized tool was developed to help cut and facet the cleft in a traditional heart-shaped diamond, increasing their availability. However, according to Soni, that tool would not work for a rose-cut heart-shaped. 64 Facets specialize in all shapes of rose-cut diamonds, so more than a decade ago, they set out to make a heart-shaped rose-cut, not realizing no one else was cutting them. Their team quickly realized it couldn’t be done beautifully, so the project was abandoned. Soni and his team decided in 2020 they would work again to make the heart-shaped rose-cut a reality, so they began experimenting again. Soni says they had to be prepared to ruin many carats of diamonds and spend an untold amount of development time if they were going to finally perfect it.
As Soni explains, regardless of the cut or shape, natural diamonds are still almost entirely cut by hand in a process that combines skill, experience, precision, and, most importantly, artistry. Rose cuts are less standardized than most other cuts, meaning each one requires the artist to make creative decisions depending on the unique properties of the rough stone. The angles, positioning, and arrangement of the facets have to be just right, or the diamond will be dull.
After two years of planning, development, testing, and cutting, Soni’s team of diamond-cutting artists finally perfected a method to cut a beautiful rose-cut heart-shaped diamond, and the “Rose Heart” was born. The main challenge, as always with a heart-shaped diamond, was cutting and faceting the cleft in the heart. Since existing instruments couldn’t beautifully cut it, Soni’s team of artists had to develop their own tool that could. It wasn’t enough to cut one beautiful diamond. As Soni explains, part of the difficulty was developing a cutting process that was consistent and economically replicable so these unique and gorgeous natural diamonds could be used to make fine jewelry.
Soni says, “Our Rose Heart collection is fueled by our artisans’ passion for diamonds and attention to detail. It was their collective talent that brought to life the first heart-shaped rose-cut diamond. After two long years of attempts and refinement, we discovered the perfect facet arrangement that brings together the elegant and soulful luster of a rose-cut diamond and the inspiring and thought-provoking shape of the heart.”
64 Facets is one of the few fine jewelry designers that also cut their own diamonds. Rough diamonds are cut and polished, and the jewelry is designed, cast, and set all under one roof in their atelier in Surat, India. Since their specialty is cutting rose-cut diamonds, they also supply them to other designers. However, their new Rose Heart is so special that it will only be available under their own jewelry brand, 64 Facets.
Soni explained that he and his team wanted to design a line of jewelry for the Rose Heart that allowed the individuality of the diamond to be on full display. With that in mind, the designs are timeless and minimal, allowing the unique diamond to be the star of each piece.
As of March 16th, the new Rose Heart collection will be available directly from 64 Facets and their partner retailers, such as Neiman Marcus.
All Photos Courtesy of 64 Facets
