Shlomo Cohen, who is credited with the 1982 development of the Princess Cut diamond, has created a new cut known as the Vinci Diamond. Based on the "divine proportion," a golden ratio that was studied intensely by Leonardo da Vinci, who inspired the diamond's name, the diamond features a 62-facet pentacle cut. By contrast, a standard round-cut diamond has 57-facets.
The perfect proportions of the diamond include three pentacle stars and give a stone with this cut unprecedented brilliance. The design is patented in Japan, Israel, Belgium, and the United States, and Cohen already has marketing plans in place.
(Can you see the star shapes?)
[Image Israeli Diamond News]
excerpt...http://theblingblog.typepad.com/the_bling_blog/2006/04/a_divine_new_fa.html
Diamond designer Shlomo Cohen, who in 1982 was credited with developing the Princess Cut, has created and patented 'The Vinci Diamond,' a 62-facet, pentacle cut, which incorporates the precise ratios of the Divine Proportion.
The idea behind Divine Proportion or the Golden Ratio is based upon the relationship of three lines of which the longest is 1.618 times the length of second longest, which in turn is 1.618 times the length of the shortest line.
The combinations of the three are the basis for everything that is perfectly proportional. The ratio is considered divine because it is repeated over and over in nature.
“I have been studying the geometric possibilities offered by the Golden Ratio since 2001, which is before I ever heard of Dan Brown or The Da Vinci Code,” Cohen said.
“Interestingly, like Dan Brown, I was inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s study of the human body, the Vitruvian Man, and discovered that the artist had adopted the Golden Ratio to emphasize the understanding that symmetry denotes beauty," he said.
Cohen created The Vinci Diamond with the assumption that the stone would be "aesthetically more pleasing if it conforms to the ratios of the Golden Ratio."
The design concept is also widely used in art and architecture. But for Cohen the design of the 62-facet The Vinci Diamond presented a special challenge, for he was intent that at least two pentacle stars be visible inside the polished diamond. If possible, Cohen wanted three pentacle stars to be visible when the diamond is viewed from above through its table.
The end result was stunning, he said, and three pentacle shapes conforming to the exact dimensions of the Divine Proportion are visible. With its precise form, The Vinci Diamond reflects both a fire and brilliance that surpasses that of the standard 57-facet round diamond.
“The completion of my work at the same time as The Da Vinci Code has enjoyed such amazing international success is a happy coincidence,” Cohen says.
“And the fact a major Hollywood movie by the same name will soon be released is an added bonus." Cohen is currently developing a marketing plan for the new cut, which has already been patented in Japan, Israel, Belgium, and the United States.
(Update 4.15.06: there is a photo of The Vinci Diamond at Luxist, they reported on this yesterday - Thanks, Wendy!)
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http://www.luxist.com/tag/shlomo%20cohen/
http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/English/News.aspx?boneId=918&objid=1395
Fascinating!