To Recut or Not to Recut? That is the Question.

I hope the shade of William Shakespeare will forgive the license I’ve taken with Hamlet’s soliloquy; but I had to do it simply because of its relevance. While diamonds are, in fact, older than dirt (how does 4 billion years old sound?), cutting them dates only from the early 16th century; and the question of recutting them to enhance their appearance has been a matter of contention ever since.

A few years back, a friend of ours, Maarten de Witte – an internationally known master diamond cutter (from Urbana, Illinois, of all places) – had a private tour of the Smithsonian Institute’s gem collection. In its course, he had occasion to closely inspect the Hope Diamond. Inspection finished, he observed to the Curator, “This is a real ‘hack’ cutting job.” Then he made his offer, “Let me recut it for you.” The museum’s curator was not amused; but Maarten’s position should be examined. The gem’s history, in Maarten’s view, is a fact of its provenance quite separate from its physical details. To be sure, it would not do to cut the diamond (it weighs 45.52 carats) into a multitude of smaller diamonds; but Maarten sees shaving off 4 or 5 carats in the interest of enhancing its sparkle and color as completely in keeping with its history – a view he shares with the late Louis XIV of France.

The diamond that would become the Hope was brought to France, as a cut gem of 115.16 carats, by French merchant-adventurer Jean Baptiste Tavernier. Tavernier described it as a beautiful violet in color and sold it to Louis XIV of France. Louis, thinking that it didn’t have as much sparkle as he would have liked, gave it to the court jeweler (Sieur Pitau) with orders to improve its appearance. The result was a diamond of a little more than 67 carats; but Louis was not real happy with its modified appearance. Fearing, were he to have it recut again, that he’d lose more weight without any gain, Louis left it alone; and it remained, as the “French Blue”, in the Crown Jewels until it was stolen in 1792. To hide its origin, the gem was recut again (into its present configuration) some time between its theft and 1812. As the late 18th/early 19th century recut was done for criminal purposes, Maarten’s offer has some merit in my eyes; but that takes us a bit afield from the most recent recut of a great historic diamond, the Wittlesbach Blue.

It too has a ‘glamourous’ history, albeit of another kind. It came into the hands of Bavaria’s royal family, the Wittelsbachs, in the early 18th century. It remained in their hands until (probably) 1951; but by 1960 it was in the hands of some ‘upstarts’, the Goldmuntz family. In the 1960s they had the temerity to ask jeweler Joseph Komkommer, to re-cut it! He refused on the grounds of its “historical significance” (Maarten, had he been an adult at the time, would have taken umbrage at this). Komkommer, however, did put his money where his mouth was; and with a consortium of diamond dealers, bought it. They resold it to Helmut Horten, a wealthy German department store magnate, in1964.

He’d met an Austrian gal, Heidi Jelinek, in 1960; and though she was 32 years younger than he, proposed marriage. She accepted. They were married July 23, 1966; and the Wittlesbach was his wedding gift to her. He passed away in 1987; but she (at about 68) remains active – and rated by Forbes Magazine as the world’s 224th richest person. Wealth notwithstanding, however, she decided to sell the diamond. So it was that in early December of 2008, the 35.56 carat diamond was sold to London-based jeweler Lawrence Graff (for about $23.4 million). Graff took the gamble and had it recut to enhance its color. It lost not quite 4.5 carats and was proudly renamed the Wittlesbach-Graff. Then the furor began. World renowned diamond cutter Gabriel Tolkowsky called it “the end of culture,” while Professor Hans Ottomeyer, Director of the Deutsches Historisches Museum of Berlin, compared the recut to overpainting a Rembrandt. Maarten, of course, approved. The recut had improved its color and clarity.

Does the romance intrinsic to any particular diamond change when you recut it in the name of beauty? I’m afraid I’m with Maarten here; I think not. So if you have a diamond that can have its appearance improved, bring it in. We’ll take grandma’s diamond (you wouldn’t wear her wedding dress without alterations, would you?) and let Maarten make it a gem of rare beauty. He can work miracles on most diamonds – except one (just one!) I took in trade – so do come see us. Check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then phone 708.788.0880 for an appointment. We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers; and our pleasure is helping you realize your dreams.