The modern brilliant cut was designed for one thing: maximum sparkle under electric light. The Old-Mine Portuguese cut was designed for candlelight, firelight, and daylight – and it has never been surpassed.
In 2024–2025 we are witnessing the fastest appreciation of any diamond category in the past twenty years: hand-cut, pre-1950s Portuguese and old-mine fancies. Prices for top examples have risen 40–70 % in the last 18 months alone, with zero publicity.
Why now?
- The last three living master cutters who can still execute a true Portuguese variation are all over 75 and no longer accepting new rough.
- Rough suitable for the cut (broad, clean Type IIa crystals) is now reserved almost exclusively for branded round brilliants.
- Supply is finite and shrinking: fewer than 40 stones above 3 carats have appeared privately in the last five years.
Current vault highlight: 4.12 ct J VS1 Type IIa – Old-Mine Portuguese cut Hand-cut in Antwerp 2018 by one of the final living masters from a 12 ct rough crystal we acquired directly in Gaborone. GIA certificate notes “exceptional optical symmetry for historical cutting style.” Under daylight it throws colored fire that no modern brilliant can match.
This stone will never be offered publicly. It is reserved for one collector who understands that some beauty cannot be mass-produced – and some returns cannot be found in any index.
If that collector is you, you already know where to write.
