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An open-worked symmetrical Rosette brooch/pendant with table- and chiffre-cut diamonds set in gold, 4.0x3.8cm, ca. 1625-1630. Brooch and pendant fittings of a later date.
From the beginning of the seventeenth century Amsterdam developed into the only place were diamonds were cut on a big scale, a position which continued for almost 400 years.
At the time there were two basic types of cut: the point- and the table-cut.
Later on the “Chiffre Cut” (Dutch: dryplack, schiffertje or schilde) was in use.
It consisted of three triangular faces raised to a low point with a flat-bottom, creating an optical illusion which makes the Chiffre look as though it has nine.
Portraits of Dutch patrician ladies wearing such a hair or breast jewel are painted in great number by the famous Dutch Masters from the "Golden Age".
West European, 17th. Century
Diam.: 40 x 38 mm
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