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Diamond Cutting

Diamond cutting is a relatively recent innovation. Although eight-sided stones were sometimes set into rings centuries ago, rough diamonds most often served as good luck charms. They rarely appeared in pieces of jewelry. Perhaps the earliest example of diamond jewelry dates from 1074, a Hungarian queen's crown set with uncut diamonds. The royalty of France and England wore diamonds by the 1300's. In the fourteenth century, the practice of diamond polishing originated in India. Diamond cutting became an established practice in 1550 in Antwerp, the most important diamond center of the era.