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How to Buy a Diamond Tax-Free in Grand Cayman: The Complete Visitor’s Guide
Everything you need to know about buying a GIA-certified diamond tax-free in Grand Cayman — how much you save, what to look for, and
Few subjects in the world of fine jewellery captivate the imagination quite like the evolution of diamond cutting. From the rough, unpolished stones prized by ancient civilisations to the breathtaking precision of today’s modern brilliant cuts, the story of how humanity learned to reveal the diamond’s inner fire is one of artistry, mathematics, technological ingenuity, and relentless pursuit of beauty. At IDC Cayman, where we specialise in GIA-certified diamonds and fine jewellery in the heart of the Caribbean, we believe that understanding a diamond’s cut history deepens your appreciation for every stone we offer. This guide takes you on a comprehensive journey through millennia of diamond cutting evolution — a story that ultimately leads to the magnificent gems you see today.
For thousands of years, diamonds were valued not for their sparkle — which requires cutting — but for their hardness and supposed mystical properties. The word “diamond” derives from the ancient Greek adamas, meaning “unconquerable” or “invincible.” This reflected the earliest understanding of the stone: a symbol of power, invulnerability, and divine protection.
Ancient Indian texts dating back to the 4th century BC describe diamonds being traded in the Golconda region of India — the world’s first known source of diamonds. These early stones were used in their natural octahedral form, the shape they naturally assume when crystallised. Indian merchants and royalty treasured diamonds as talismans and status symbols, believing they could ward off evil, bring good fortune, and even cure illness. The Hindus assigned diamonds to the planet Venus and believed the stones captured lightning, endowing their wearers with courage and clarity of mind.
The Romans also prized natural octahedral diamonds, using them uncut as decorative elements and amulets. Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote of diamonds in his first-century AD encyclopaedia Naturalis Historia, noting their supreme hardness and extraordinary value. Yet even these brilliant minds had no means to cut or polish a diamond — the stone was simply too hard for any tool available at the time.
The transformation from raw stone to cut gem began in earnest during the 14th century in the workshops of European gem cutters, primarily in Venice and later Bruges, Antwerp, and Paris. These early artisans discovered that a diamond could be used to grind and polish another diamond — the only substance hard enough to work the stone.
The Point Cut was among the earliest deliberate diamond cuts. Rather than cutting a natural octahedron at all, craftsmen simply polished the eight natural facets of the octahedral crystal, creating a sharper, more lustrous surface. The resulting gem resembled two pyramids placed base-to-base, catching the light in a way the unpolished stone never could. While modest by modern standards, the point cut represented a revolutionary insight: that human intervention could enhance nature’s creation.
By the mid-15th century, European cutters had developed the Table Cut, which involved grinding off the top point of the octahedron to create a large flat surface — the “table” facet — that gave the cut its name. The bottom of the stone was similarly flattened to create a “culet.” The result was a gem with eight facets that, though still far simpler than later cuts, offered improved light return and a more regular, polished appearance. Table cut diamonds became enormously fashionable among European royalty and nobility, and many of the great gems of the Renaissance were cut in this style. Rings, necklaces, and crown jewels across Europe featured table cut diamonds mounted in dark foil-backed settings to enhance their brilliance.
The 16th century brought a significant leap forward with the development of the Rose Cut, a style that endures as a beloved vintage choice today. The rose cut features a flat base with a domed top covered in triangular facets arranged in a symmetrical pattern — typically 6, 12, or 24 facets. Its name derives from its resemblance to a rose bud as its petals open.
The rose cut was revolutionary for its time because it was specifically designed to maximise the use of flat, irregular rough diamonds that would otherwise be difficult to cut. Unlike the octahedral crystals that suited the table cut, rose cuts could be fashioned from flat “macles” — twinned diamond crystals — that were commonly found in Indian mines.
Rose cut diamonds became wildly popular throughout Europe during the 17th century, featured prominently in the jewels of the Dutch Republic, which had by this point overtaken Antwerp as the centre of European diamond cutting. The Dutch city of Amsterdam became synonymous with diamond craftsmanship, and many of the world’s most celebrated historic gems were cut there. The rose cut produces a soft, romantic sparkle quite different from modern brilliant cuts — less intense fire, but a gentle, dreamy glow that collectors and vintage jewellery enthusiasts prize highly today. At IDC Cayman, we occasionally source antique and vintage pieces featuring rose cuts for clients who appreciate their historical charm.
The 17th century marked the dawn of the brilliant era. Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the powerful French statesman and art patron who governed France during Louis XIV’s minority, became an important patron of diamond cutting. He commissioned and collected twenty-four large diamonds cut with an expanded number of facets — 17 facets on the crown and 17 on the pavilion — in what became known as the Double-Cut Brilliant or “Mazarin Cut.”
While Mazarin was the patron, the actual development is credited to Cardinal Mazarin’s preferred gem cutter, and the style was further refined by Vincenzo Peruzzi, a Venetian polisher working in the late 17th century. Peruzzi expanded the facet count further to 33 facets on the crown alone, creating what was called the Peruzzi Cut or “Triple Cut Brilliant.” This represented the first time a diamond cut was genuinely designed around the principles of light reflection and refraction — seeking to maximise brilliance rather than simply present a polished stone in an appealing shape.
The Peruzzi cut was still far from the mathematical precision of modern cutting, but it established a crucial principle: that the arrangement and angle of facets determined how light moved through the stone. This insight would take another two centuries to fully realise, but the 17th century cutters had identified the fundamental question that would drive diamond cutting for generations to come.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw the dominance of what we now call the Old Mine Cut — arguably the most historically significant diamond cut of the modern era, and the direct precursor to today’s round brilliant. The old mine cut takes its name from the fact that diamonds of this period came from “old mines” — primarily the historic Golconda mines of India and, later, the Brazilian alluvial deposits that became major sources in the 18th century.
The old mine cut is characterised by a small table, a high crown, a large culet (the flat bottom facet, which appears as a circle when viewed through the table), and a cushion-shaped outline — square or rectangular with softly rounded corners. This shape arose naturally from the octahedral rough crystals being cut, as the cutter sought to maximise carat weight from the available material rather than optimise light performance.
Old mine cut diamonds have 58 facets — the same number as modern round brilliants — but their proportions are quite different. The high crown and deep pavilion, combined with the large culet, create a characteristic optical effect: a distinctive sparkle that is soft and romantic, with a warm, candle-lit quality that reflects the era before electric light. These diamonds were literally designed to look their best by candlelight, the primary light source in aristocratic homes and ballrooms of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The old mine cut became the diamond of the Georgian and Victorian eras, gracing the jewels of queens, empresses, and society ladies across Europe and America. Many of the world’s most storied diamonds — including several in the British Crown Jewels — were originally cut as old mine cuts, some later recut to modern standards, others preserved in their original form as historical treasures. Antique dealers and vintage jewellery collectors prize authentic old mine cuts today for their unique character and irreplaceable historical provenance.
The late 19th century brought significant changes to diamond cutting, driven by two parallel developments: the discovery of the South African diamond fields in the 1860s and the invention of the mechanical bruting machine in the 1870s.
The discovery of diamonds at Kimberley, South Africa — in pipes of volcanic kimberlite rock rather than alluvial river deposits — transformed the global diamond industry almost overnight. The scale of the South African discoveries made diamonds more widely available than ever before, fuelling a new era of jewellery creation and democratic aspiration for diamond ownership. Where diamonds had previously been the exclusive province of royalty and the highest aristocracy, they gradually became accessible to the prosperous middle classes of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
The mechanical bruting machine allowed cutters to achieve a truly round outline for the first time. Rather than the soft cushion shape of the old mine cut, the new Old European Cut featured a perfectly circular girdle. Combined with improved faceting techniques, the old European cut had a smaller culet, higher crown, and more standardised proportions than its predecessor. The result was a diamond that sparkled with greater intensity — more fire and more brilliance — while still retaining the characteristic depth and warmth of hand-cut stones.
Old European cuts graced the jewellery of the Edwardian era (roughly 1901–1910) and the early Art Deco period, set in delicate platinum filigree work that became the hallmark of that sophisticated age. Today, old European cuts are highly sought after by vintage diamond lovers who appreciate their hand-crafted individuality and the soft, “inner glow” sparkle that differs from the sharp, intense brilliance of modern cuts.
The most pivotal moment in the history of diamond cutting came in 1919, when a young Belgian mathematician and diamond cutter named Marcel Tolkowsky published his doctoral thesis, “Diamond Design: A Study of the Reflection and Refraction of Light in a Diamond.” This slim but revolutionary document applied optical mathematics to diamond cutting for the first time, calculating the precise proportions needed to maximise both brilliance (white light return) and fire (spectral colour dispersion).
Tolkowsky’s calculations yielded specific angles and proportions: a table diameter of approximately 53% of the girdle diameter, a crown angle of 34.5°, a pavilion angle of 40.75°, and a total depth of approximately 59.3% of the girdle diameter. These numbers defined the Ideal Round Brilliant Cut, a 58-facet arrangement that became the gold standard of diamond cutting for the 20th century and beyond.
The genius of Tolkowsky’s work was its scientific rigour. Previous cutters had worked by intuition and tradition, incrementally improving upon what came before. Tolkowsky approached the problem as a mathematician, modelling how light entered the diamond, reflected off the pavilion facets, and exited through the crown. He determined that pavilion facets angled too steeply or too shallowly would cause light to “leak” out the bottom rather than returning to the eye — the phenomenon we now call “extinction.” His ideal cut maximised the internal total reflection of light, ensuring that rays entering the stone bounced between pavilion facets and exited through the crown in a dazzling display of white light and rainbow colours.
Not everyone adopted Tolkowsky’s exact specifications immediately — the diamond industry moved slowly, and different regional cutting centres (notably Antwerp and New York) developed their own preferred proportions. But his work established the principle that scientific precision, not artistic intuition alone, was the key to maximising a diamond’s beauty. This principle drives the GIA’s grading of Cut quality today.
For much of the 20th century, even as the round brilliant became the dominant diamond cut, there was no standardised way to communicate a diamond’s cut quality to consumers. Cutters understood the importance of proportions, but buyers had no reliable means of comparing stones across different dealers and markets.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), founded in 1931, spent decades developing the scientific tools and standards needed to objectively evaluate diamonds. The GIA introduced the 4Cs grading system — Carat, Colour, Clarity, and Cut — and in 2005 took the landmark step of including a formal Cut grade for round brilliant diamonds on its grading reports, using grades of Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor.
This standardisation transformed the diamond market. For the first time, a buyer in Grand Cayman could purchase a diamond certified by the GIA knowing exactly how its cut compared to an international standard developed by the world’s foremost gem laboratory. The GIA Cut grade evaluates not just proportions but also polish and symmetry — the microscopic precision of each facet’s surface and alignment — giving a comprehensive assessment of how well a diamond was cut.
At IDC Cayman, every diamond we offer is GIA-certified. We believe strongly in the value of this independent, scientific assessment, which ensures our clients receive exactly what they are paying for. A GIA Excellent Cut designation represents the pinnacle of the cutter’s art — a stone optimised by both mathematical precision and skilled craftsmanship to deliver maximum brilliance, fire, and scintillation.
While the round brilliant has reigned as the most popular diamond shape throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the history of diamond cutting includes a rich tradition of “fancy cuts” — non-round shapes that offer distinctive looks and unique optical characteristics. Many of these shapes have fascinating histories of their own.
The emerald cut’s origins lie in the rectangular step cuts developed for actual emeralds in the 1500s. The long, parallel facets of step cutting minimised the risk of chipping the relatively fragile emerald’s corners, while emphasising the stone’s colour and clarity. Jewellers applied similar techniques to diamonds from the 17th century onwards, but the cut achieved its definitive form during the Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s, when its clean geometric lines perfectly suited the era’s modernist aesthetic. The emerald cut’s large, open table facet makes inclusions and colour more visible than brilliant cuts — which is why emerald cut diamonds typically require higher clarity and colour grades to look their best. This transparency is also its charm: the emerald cut emphasises a diamond’s natural beauty without the “disguise” of brilliant cutting.
Joseph Asscher of Amsterdam’s Royal Asscher Diamond Company developed the Asscher cut in 1902, receiving a patent for the design. The original Asscher cut is essentially a square emerald cut with deeply cropped corners, creating an almost octagonal outline. Its unique step facets and high crown create a distinctive “hall of mirrors” optical effect when viewed from above — concentric squares of light that draw the eye deep into the stone. The Asscher cut fell out of fashion during the mid-20th century but experienced a major revival after 2000, when the Royal Asscher Company introduced the improved “Royal Asscher Cut” with 74 facets for enhanced brilliance. It remains a favourite among vintage jewellery enthusiasts and discerning collectors.
The princess cut is the youngest major diamond cut with a formal name, developed in its current form in the 1960s and 1970s and refined by Betazel Ambar and Israel Itzkowitz in 1980. Its defining feature is a square outline with brilliant-style faceting — combining the efficient use of octahedral rough material (similar to cutting two square brilliants from a single octahedron with minimal waste) with the fire and brilliance of brilliant cutting. The princess cut became enormously popular in the 1990s and 2000s, and for a period challenged the round brilliant as the best-selling diamond shape. Today it remains a strong choice for those who prefer a square or rectangular diamond with maximum sparkle.
Lazare Kaplan, one of the 20th century’s greatest diamond cutters, developed the modern oval brilliant in 1957. Kaplan was already renowned for his extraordinary skill in cleaving and faceting large, problematic rough diamonds — he famously saved the Jonker Diamond in 1935, successfully cleaving a 726-carat rough stone that many believed uncuttable. His oval brilliant applied the light-maximising facet arrangement of the round brilliant to an elongated outline, creating a shape that appears larger per carat than a round of equal weight (because the elongated outline covers more finger surface area) while retaining high levels of fire and brilliance. The oval cut has experienced a dramatic surge in popularity in recent years, becoming the most requested shape at IDC Cayman for modern engagement rings.
The marquise cut has a romantic origin story: according to tradition, King Louis XV of France commissioned a diamond cut in the shape of the lips of his mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour. Whether or not this story is historically accurate, the marquise — an elongated brilliant with pointed ends — has been a beloved fancy shape since at least the 18th century. It offers the same finger-lengthening, size-maximising effect as the oval with an even more dramatic pointed profile. The pear cut, combining a rounded end with a single point, similarly elongates the appearance of the finger while offering brilliant-cut sparkle. The heart cut, perhaps the most openly romantic of diamond shapes, requires considerable skill to execute symmetrically and has been cherished as a symbol of love since at least the 16th century.
The cushion cut is a direct descendant of the old mine cut, updated with modern faceting techniques to improve brilliance while preserving the soft, rounded-corner square or rectangular outline that distinguished its ancestor. Modern cushion cuts come in two main varieties: “cushion brilliant,” which uses a modified brilliant faceting pattern similar to the round brilliant, and “cushion modified brilliant,” which adds an extra row of facets to the pavilion, creating a distinctive “crushed ice” appearance of scattered light. The cushion cut’s combination of vintage character and modern brilliance has made it perennially popular, consistently ranking among the top three or four most requested shapes at IDC Cayman.
The final chapter in the evolution of diamond cutting — one that is still being written — began in the 1980s with the introduction of computer-aided design (CAD) and laser cutting technology to the diamond industry. These tools transformed cutting from a craft dependent on the individual cutter’s eye and experience into a science capable of virtually unprecedented precision.
Modern diamond manufacturers use sophisticated scanning technology to create three-dimensional models of rough diamonds before a single facet is polished. Software then calculates the optimal cutting plan — the arrangement and angles of facets that will maximise both carat yield from the rough and the finished stone’s light performance. A rough diamond may be analysed for days or weeks before cutting begins, with every possible faceting arrangement evaluated and compared.
Laser technology has similarly revolutionised the sawing and cleaving steps that prepare rough diamonds for faceting. Where previous generations of cutters used mechanical saws with diamond-tipped blades (a slow and imprecise process) or cleaved stones along their natural crystal planes (a dramatic, high-stakes procedure with no margin for error), modern manufacturers use computer-controlled laser beams to cut rough diamonds with micrometric precision. The laser follows the optimal cutting path calculated by the software, maximising yield and minimising waste.
The result of these technological advances is that today’s well-cut diamonds achieve light performance levels that Marcel Tolkowsky could only theorise about. Modern cut grading tools like the GIA’s Facetware software and third-party devices like the ASET (Angular Spectrum Evaluation Tool) and Idealscope can objectively measure how a specific diamond handles light — which areas of the stone return light to the viewer’s eye, which areas show contrast, and which areas allow light to escape as extinction. These tools allow cutters and buyers alike to verify a diamond’s optical performance beyond what the traditional 4Cs assessment captures.
Even within the GIA’s Excellent Cut grade — which represents the top tier of cut quality on the world’s most widely respected grading scale — there is meaningful variation. Recognising this, a community of diamond cutters and retailers has developed the concept of the “super ideal cut”: diamonds cut to even tighter proportional tolerances than the GIA Excellent standard requires, optimised specifically to display the “Hearts and Arrows” pattern.
Hearts and Arrows diamonds, when viewed through a special optical tool called a Hearts and Arrows viewer, display a perfectly symmetrical pattern of eight hearts when viewed from the pavilion side and eight arrows when viewed from the table side. This pattern only appears when every facet is cut and aligned with extraordinary precision — typically to within ±0.5° of the ideal angles and with symmetry deviations measured in hundredths of a millimetre. The result is a diamond that displays the maximum possible brightness, fire, and a characteristic pattern of light and dark contrast that diamond connoisseurs prize as the ultimate expression of the cutter’s art.
Super ideal cut diamonds command premium prices — sometimes 15–30% above equivalent GIA Excellent stones — but for discerning buyers seeking the absolute best, they represent an extraordinary achievement of human skill and technology working in perfect harmony.
The evolution of diamond cutting continues in the 21st century, with innovative shapes and faceting arrangements emerging regularly. The Radiant Cut, developed by Henry Grossbard in 1977, combined the rectangular outline of the emerald cut with brilliant-style faceting for the first time — a combination now widely copied and available in both square and rectangular proportions. The Trilliant or Trillion Cut offers a triangular outline with brilliant faceting, often used as a side stone or in trios with a centre stone.
More recently, the Portuguese Cut, Flanders Cut, and various proprietary cuts developed by individual manufacturers have expanded the cutter’s vocabulary further. The Elongated Cushion Cut, with a more rectangular outline than the traditional square cushion, has surged in popularity as buyers seek the vintage charm of the cushion with the finger-lengthening effect of elongated shapes. And the Elongated Radiant, sometimes called the “emerald-shaped radiant,” combines the radiant cut’s brilliant faceting with an elongated rectangular outline for striking visual impact.
Perhaps the most significant recent development is the growing popularity of the Lab-Grown Diamond, which is not a new cut but a new source. Lab-grown diamonds are chemically and physically identical to mined diamonds, and they are cut using exactly the same tools and techniques. Their growing prevalence in the market has expanded diamond ownership to new consumer segments while raising interesting questions about value, sustainability, and tradition that the industry continues to grapple with.
Understanding the history of diamond cutting is more than academic — it directly informs how you choose the right diamond for your needs, taste, and budget. At IDC Cayman, our GIA-trained gemologists work with clients to navigate these choices, drawing on centuries of cutting history to help you find your ideal stone.
For maximum brilliance and light performance, the round brilliant remains the undisputed champion. No other cut delivers equivalent levels of fire and scintillation, and the GIA’s Excellent Cut grade provides an objective benchmark for quality. If a diamond engagement ring or solitaire pendant is your goal and you want the brightest, most “classic” diamond possible, the round brilliant is your answer.
For finger-lengthening elegance, oval, marquise, and pear cuts offer sophisticated silhouettes that appear larger per carat than rounds while delivering brilliant-cut sparkle. The oval cut in particular has become the choice of a new generation of diamond buyers who want something distinctive yet timeless.
For vintage romance and character, the emerald cut, Asscher cut, and old European cut offer a connection to the long history of diamond cutting. These cuts require higher clarity and colour grades to look their best — the emerald cut’s open table leaves nowhere to hide inclusions — but reward that investment with a diamond of extraordinary elegance and individuality.
For square or cushion-shaped beauty, the princess cut, cushion cut, and Asscher cut offer square outlines with very different personalities. The princess cut maximises brilliance in a square outline; the cushion cut blends vintage character with modern faceting; the Asscher cut creates its unique “hall of mirrors” depth.
For coloured diamonds, cut choices become even more nuanced. Fancy yellow, pink, blue, and other coloured diamonds are often cut to maximise colour saturation rather than brilliance — a cushion cut, for example, tends to concentrate colour more effectively than a round brilliant, which is why many of the world’s most celebrated fancy coloured diamonds are cushion shaped.
At IDC Cayman — International Diamond Centre, located in the heart of Grand Cayman — we bring the entire history of diamond cutting excellence to the Caribbean. Every diamond we offer comes with a GIA grading report, ensuring complete transparency about its cut grade, colour, clarity, and carat weight. Our gemologists are trained to explain these grades in plain language and to show you exactly what they mean when you hold a stone in your hand.
Grand Cayman’s tax-free environment makes it one of the best places in the world to purchase a fine diamond. Without VAT, sales tax, or import duties on jewellery, you can invest significantly more of your budget in the quality of the stone rather than government levies. Many visitors to the Cayman Islands make diamond shopping a highlight of their trip, and IDC Cayman has served discerning buyers from around the world for decades.
Whether you are drawn to the crisp geometry of an emerald cut, the romantic sparkle of an old European cut, the brilliant fire of a modern round brilliant, or the contemporary elegance of an oval, we have the expertise, the inventory, and the GIA certification standards to help you find your perfect diamond. Every stone we show you carries centuries of cutting history within its facets — a legacy of human artistry and scientific ingenuity that makes the diamond one of humanity’s most enduring treasures.
We invite you to visit IDC Cayman in George Town, Grand Cayman, to experience the full beauty of our GIA-certified diamond collection. Our team is ready to share the knowledge, passion, and expertise that has made us the Cayman Islands’ premier destination for fine diamonds and jewellery. The history of diamond cutting spans thousands of years — your perfect diamond awaits you now.
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