SCULPTING AN ORIGINAL

Henry Grossbard equated his development of the Radiant Cut to a sculptor's artistic design process. "An experienced craftsman can look into the rough stone and see the finished diamond," he often explained. As an artist he sought to create the most exquisite square and rectangular shaped diamonds. "I didn't create the radiant for weight retention," Mr. Grossbard said, "I did it to create a beautiful diamond."

As a master diamond cutter, he had been cutting diamonds for thirty years before he invented the Original Radiant Cut that made his legacy. In the early 1970s, emerald cuts had lost the public's attention. Mr. Grossbard, however, always loved the elegant shape of the emerald cut.

"Since I was always a fan of this elegant shape, I wanted to create a new cut that retained the shape of a traditional emerald cut, but infused it with the brilliance people expected of their diamonds," Mr. Grossbard explained in a "New York Diamonds" article.

Through skill, perseverance, and pure willingness to take a chance, Mr. Grossbard accomplished his dream by creating a new cutting style. In 1977, he discovered a way to make squares and rectangles hip again. His artistic vision resulted in the Original Radiant Cut, a diamond which remains the most brilliantly cut square and rectangular shape ever designed.

His invention opened the door to more innovation, making possible many of the fancy cuts on the market today. These later cuts employ Mr. Grossbard's hybrid cutting technique. The development of the Radiant Cut was a true diamond cutting breakthrough, leading to an explosion in the popularity of square and rectangular diamonds. Most of the "radiant-like" diamonds on the market today however employ techniques to maximize weight retention rather than the beauty of each diamond.