Find The Ideal Cut With Tolkowsky

A Sparkling History

Founded over 200 years ago, Tolkowsky has a rich heritage in crafting some of the world’s most breath-taking diamonds. A breakthrough discovery in 1919 led to the Tolkowsky family name becoming renowned for setting the benchmark for diamond cutting, a reputation of technical excellence that still holds true some 100 years later.

With two great passions, one for mathematics and one for diamonds, it was Marcel Tolkowsky who created the complex formula that would maximise a diamond's brilliance, colour and sparkle. This became known as the 'Ideal Cut', and a Tolkowsky diamond is still produced to these exacting standards today. This formula ensures all Tolkowsky diamonds are full of life and exceptional sparkle.

The same intricate detail, superior craftsmanship, beautiful design and incredible attention to detail is applied to all Tolkowsky engagement rings, bridal sets, wedding and eternity rings. Tolkowsky engagement rings are accompanied by three independently authenticated certificates to give complete reassurance of the unique qualities of the diamond you’ve chosen.

The 'Ideal Cut'

Whilst studying the grinding of diamonds at the University of London, Marcel Tolkowsky discovered that light would escape from a diamond if the cut were too shallow, or too deep, meaning some of its brilliance would be lost. His mission to overcome this led to him finding a way to balance 'Brilliance' (white light), Fire (colour) and Scintillation (sparkle). The exacting precision and detail required for an ‘Ideal Cut’ diamond means it takes twice as long as a standard cut diamond.

Marcel’s innovation has been applied to some of the world’s most precious diamonds. Almost 70 years after his ground-breaking discovery, Marcel’s great-nephew, Gobi Tolkowsky and his son Jean-Paul were commissioned by De Beers to create ‘The Centenary Diamond’, which at over 273 carats, was the world’s largest grade D flawless diamond.

Every Diamond Is Unique 

Each exquisite Tolkowsky diamond ring comes with triple certification, including a GSI or IGI certificate, which confirms it’s an ‘Ideal Cut’ Tolkowsky diamond and details on the diamond's individual qualities. As well as a GEMEX certificate which evaluates beauty by measuring brilliance, fire and sparkle. Each and every solitaire Tolkowsky diamond achieves the highest rating in all three categories.

When considering diamond rings, you’ll probably hear about the famous 4 C’s – colour, clarity, carat and cut. You can rest assured that Tolkowsky diamond rings are of exceptional quality, with a minimum colour classification of ‘I’, and a minimum clarity of ‘I1’, but if you are interested in mastering the 4 C’s to help you narrow down your choice, see our Diamond Guide. Each Tolkowsky ring also has a detailed product specification with information including their distinctive colour, clarity, carat weight, cut and stone setting.

Engagement Rings

Over 50 exquisite designs of hand-set diamonds

Bridal Sets

Superior craftsmanship, breath-taking diamonds

Wedding Bands and Eternity Rings

Only the very finest jewellery carries the Tolkowsky ‘T’