De Beers London has introduced cabochon-cut diamonds into its high jewellery designs for the first time, following a five-year development process designed to create smooth, unfaceted stones that deliver a softer return of light.
The diamond cabochons appear in Vibrations, a high jewellery collection inspired by “the quiet yet enduring power of inland water” found in De Beers’ key diamond sources of Botswana, South Africa, Canada and Namibia. The collection launch coincided with London Fashion Week.
Cabochon cutting, which creates a smooth, domed surface, has long been associated with coloured gemstones. It is rarely applied to diamonds because of the material’s hardness and the difficulty of achieving an even polished form.
It is also not a cut that delivers the traditional sparkle associated with diamonds, instead creating a gem that looks icy. “While these diamonds may not sparkle in the conventional sense, they’re filled with an extraordinary light that really just radiates,” said US jeweller Mary MacGill, who set one in a ring in January. In 2021, the Gemological Institute of America examined two natural diamond cabochons weighing 6.29 and 6.07 carats that displayed rare four-rayed asterism created by aligned internal inclusions.
To produce its own diamond cabochons, De Beers has spent the past five years developing a specialised cutting technique using precision technology. The resulting stones feature in the Undulation jewellery suite within Vibrations, with the soft almost moonstone-like appearance of the diamond cabochons contrasted with polished colourless diamonds and rough green diamonds.
Without facets to distract from or obscure the diamonds’ internal characteristics, the cabochon technique requires diamonds with high levels of purity and an appropriate crystal structure. De Beers said fewer than 0.5% of diamonds satisfy the necessary colour and clarity criteria, with fewer still possessing the required symmetry and structural quality.
Emmanuelle Nodale, chief executive of De Beers London, said: “From new expressions of diamond cutting to remarkable transformability, Vibrations pushes our artistry forward while celebrating diamonds of extraordinary rarity and character.”
GemFair enters high jewellery
Vibrations also marks the first use of artisanally sourced GemFair diamonds in De Beers London high jewellery, presented in both rough and polished forms. The alluvial white diamonds were recovered by independent artisanal miners from riverbeds in Sierra Leone.
GemFair was established by De Beers Group in 2018 to establish a traceable route to market for responsibly sourced artisanal and small-scale mined diamonds. The programme works with participating miners on areas including ethical practices, safer working conditions and environmental management, while seeking to provide fair and transparent prices.
