The Antwerp World Diamond Centres (AWDC) celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Brilliant Cut two days ago.    

A 100 years prior to the day, Marcel Tolkowsky, a diamond polisher and engineer from Antwerp became the first person “to scientifically determine the perfect way to cut a brilliant diamond - 57 facets precisely positioned in such a way as to achieve the maximum brilliance, fire and scintillation”, The Diamond Loupe reported. And, what is more, at the time, Tolkowsky was only 19 years old!

Since then, the round brilliant cut has been not only seen as “the most ideal cut in the world”, but has been the mainstay of the diamond industry. 

To celebrate and honour “the most iconic and successful diamond cut in history”, the AWDC organised a street fair titled "100 Years Brilliant". 

On the occasion, the AWDC also launched a unique project that entailed polishing a single diamond as a community.

“The industry arranged to have 57 well-known (and not-so-well-known) residents of Antwerp polish a single diamond: one person for each facet of a brilliant,” explained Ari Epstein, CEO AWDC. “In this way, ‘t Steentje - which is how the diamond industry is referred to in the local vernacular - will represent the multicultural character and diversity of the Antwerp diamond industry. Once the stone is finished, it will be exhibited in the DIVA diamond museum.” 

Sir Gabriel 'Gabi' Tolkowsky, widely considered as one of the foremost diamond cutters of all times, and who is himself the nephew of Marcel, cut the first facet of the stone.

“His many accomplishments include the priceless, 274-carat Centenary Diamond, cut from a 599-carat rough stone, which is still the largest D Flawless diamond in history, and the Golden Jubilee Diamond, the largest faceted diamond in the world at 546 carats, which was presented to the King of Thailand,” The Diamond Loupe said. “He is also famous for inventing the ‘flower cuts’ for De Beers, which accentuated the brilliance of typically lower-quality stones with their unconventional angles and facets.”

Speaking on the occasion, Gabi, who was also the guest of honour, said, "In 1919, when he was just 19 years old, my uncle Marcel, born in Antwerp, unlocked the secret of light within a diamond. After extensive research and experimentation, he discovered the mathematical formula for the ideal cut diamond: the brilliant. He created the 57-facet stone, the standard for releasing all the beauty of a diamond. He figured out how to get the greatest amount of light to shine out of a diamond, calculating the number and arrangement of facets to maximize the light return. This was Marcel’s gift to the world, perfecting the journey of light, giving all those who came after him the knowledge of how to turn a diamond into a 'Unique Beauty'." 

Constantinus ‘Stan’ Hunselmans, who shares his year of birth with the brilliant cut, polished the second facet of the stone. “I celebrated my 100th birthday on January 14, and it is an honour that I was chosen to polish the first facet. It went really well. If I were a little bit younger, I might have considered a career switch,” he remarked in a lighter vein.

The brilliant event was attended by several important persons from the Antwerp political and cultural world, who were among the first round of polishers; as well as many industry representatives such as Feriel Zerouki, Senior Vice President of International Relations and Ethical Initiatives, De Beers Group; Sergey Panchekhin, Director of Alrosa Belgium; and ambassadors to Belgium from diamond-producing countries Canada, Namibia, South Africa and Angola.

 Marcel Tolkowsky had migrated to the United States in 1940.  He worked in the diamond industry there until 1975, when he took retirement. 

“In 1991, Marcel passed away due to a heart failure,” The Diamond Loupe recounted. “Up until today, diamond cutters around the world use Marcel’s mathematical formula as guideline or reference when cutting a diamond.”