Buying Guide

Old Mine Cut vs Old European Cut Diamonds

The old mine cut and the old European cut are the two great antique diamond cuts, and they are easy to confuse. They share the same candlelit character — a high crown, a small table, and a large open culet — but they part ways on one thing: outline. This guide sets them side by side and helps you choose, in a lab-grown stone cut the antique way.

By the Sula Bridal team · Updated July 5, 2026

The difference in one line

An old mine cut has a cushion — squarish, rounded-corner — outline; an old European cut is round. Everything else about them is nearly the same antique recipe: a high crown, a small table, and a large open culet that returns light in broad, warm flashes rather than the fine sparkle of a modern brilliant. If the stone is square-ish it is old mine; if it is round it is old European.

Old mine cut vs old European cut, side by side

What is an old mine cut?

The old mine cut is the original antique diamond cut — hand-faceted through the Georgian and Victorian eras with a cushion outline, a high crown, a small table, and an open culet. It reads as a warm, geometric antique cushion. Sula cuts this geometry into lab-grown diamonds, so you get the candle-era look with a modern certificate behind it. See the full range on the old mine cut engagement rings page, or read the deeper old mine cut guide.

What is an old European cut?

The old European cut is the round antique cut — the transitional step between the old mine cut and the modern round brilliant, faceted by hand through the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. It keeps the antique high crown, small table, and open culet, but in a round outline that reads closer to a modern round from across the room. See it on the old European cut engagement rings page.

Which looks more antique?

Both are genuinely antique cuts, so neither is a compromise. The old mine cut wears its age more visibly: the cushion outline and chunky facets read unmistakably vintage, even at a glance. The old European cut is quieter about it — the round outline lets it pass as a soft, slightly hazy modern round until you look closely and catch the open culet at the center. Choose the old mine cut if you want the antique character to be obvious; choose the old European if you want it to be a detail you notice up close.

Both, grown in a lab

Genuine antique stones of either cut are scarce, inconsistent, and rarely certified. Sula’s are different in one important way: they are lab-grown diamonds cut in the old mine and old European styles — IGI certified, D–F color, VVS+ clarity, made to order in 14K or 18K gold, from $2,300. You get the antique cut and warmth without the estate-market guesswork and without an antique premium.

We are specific about this because it matters: these are new diamonds, honestly described. We never present a lab-grown stone as a salvaged or period antique.

Which should you choose?

Choose the old mine cut if you want a cushion, squarish silhouette with visible antique geometry — the classic candlelit look, at home in a solitaire, a bezel, or a three-stone.

Choose the old European cut if you want a round antique stone that reads closer to a modern round from a distance, with the antique culet as a close-up detail — lovely in a bezel, three-stone, or cluster setting.

Still unsure? It comes down to outline and feel, not quality — both are the same lab-grown, IGI-certified diamond underneath. Set them on your hand, or talk it through with us.

Shop the two antique cuts

Each is lab-grown, IGI certified, and made to order in 14K or 18K gold. Prices start at $2,300.

Old mine vs old European: common questions