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The Tolkowsky Ideal
The name Tolkowsky has been identified with the "Ideal" diamond since the early 20th century. In 1919, Belgian cutter Marcel Tolkowsky published a treatise, called Diamond Design, in which he described what he considered to be an diamond cut to ideal - or perfect - proportions.
Tolkowsky was concerned with beauty - with "the constant search for greater brilliancy, a more vivid fire in the diamond, regardless of the loss of weight."
Tolkowsky then offered a set of mathematical proportions - or external measurements - for cutting a perfect round brilliant based on the best work of the best cutters of his day. It was long believed that, by following these proportions exactly, a diamond of perfect beauty would result.
Within five years of its publication, jewelers in the United States were advertising diamonds cut to "Tolkowsky's Ideal Proportions." Eight decades later, jewelers still refer to Tolkowsky and advertise their cuts as "Ideal."
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