Featured Victorian Rhinestone/Paste Brooch (also gross)

Neither. Old Mine Cut is a rounded square cut, a diamond term, btw. The cut on your pastes is closest to the Old European Cut in diamonds, but that is another diamond term, not a paste term.

 

To get an idea of diamond cuts:

 

Thank you I'll try this if I dare to go further with it!

 

Oh okay! Are there paste terms as opposed to diamond terms? I've only ever heard the diamonds. Thanks so much for that graphic, that's super helpful.

 

I don't think paste cutting is as difficult and highly valued as diamond cutting, so I can't imagine there are specific terms.
If you get the cut on paste wrong, you just pick up another piece of glass. If you get the cut on a diamond wrong, you could lose a significant part of your income, your reputation, and even your job.

Diamond cutting is a top job in the diamond industry, and very few people are good at it.
The famous Cullinan diamond was sent to Asscher in Amsterdam to be cut, and the diamonds that were cut from it, like the famous 'Star of Africa', became important parts the British Crown Jewels.
Only Joseph Asscher himself could have cut such beautiful diamonds from the Cullinan.

 

In church this morning, the passage was part of how Solomon had the Temple constructed. The bronze bits outside were done by a gent named Hiram, or Huram depending on who you ask. He was a seriously good metalsmith/engineer who specialized in bronze. Pulling off what he did with wood fires and primitive (at best) casting facilities was close to a miracle. Even so, anything that didn't turn out right the first time could be melted and redone. Not so with diamonds. One shot is all you get.