An old European cut diamond is an old style of faceting a diamond in a round shape, hand worked, in a less than perfect fashion. This style enabled the diamonds 58 facets to show broader reflective bands of brilliance returning back up through the top portion of the diamond (the table facet). Old European cut diamonds continued the characteristic of the old cuts with their open culet and higher crown. It is similar to the old mine cut, but is round rather than squarish and has 58 facets.

The old mine cut was a predecessor of the round brilliant cut. It came into existence in the late 17th century. The old miner was the first diamond cut that had all the facets of the present round brilliant cut: the bezel, the star, pavilion mains, etc. However, the facet alignment and sizes were in a different manner as compared to the current round brilliant. The old miner was also more of a square or cushion cut, rather than being round. In fact, today's cushion cut is an improved old mine cut