The importance of a culet was also realised, and some table-cut stones may possess one.

The table-cut description refers to a thin diamond section with a flat top and bottom, where the diamonds have also been faceted around the edge.

Gold with enamel and table-cut stones.

The ruby and one of the diamonds were table-cut, while two further diamonds were lozenges.

Among the items to go on display is a Salamander broach with table-cut diamonds and a diamond-encrusted gold bow pendant.

Weighing approximately 96 carats in total, the skillfully rendered table-cut diamonds were designed to emphasize the beauty of the stones without sacrificing their size.

Introduced in the 1930s, it was a broad brand of pavé set diamonds, its baguette diamond “shoulders” supporting a big, bold table-cut gem stone.

Gold bow pendant set with rose-cut and step-cut foil-backed rubies and table-cut diamonds.

The heart-shaped table-cut diamond is nestled within a red stone and has a jade mount with smaller table-cut diamonds.

By 1412 the Duke of Burgundy possessed table-cut stones with flat polished faces bevelled by oblique facets at the sides meeting to form four points.

The Estanque diamond was a large table-cut diamond that Philip II gave his third wife, Elisabeth of Valois, in 1560.

Created using an estimated 2 million natural seed pearls, the Pearl Of Baroda features a centerpiece of three large rosettes put together with table-cut diamonds set in silvered gold.

At the time, diamond was valued chiefly for its adamantine lustre and superlative hardness; a table-cut diamond would appear black to the eye, as they do in paintings of the era.

The design of the Estanque jewel, comprising a large pearl pendant suspended from a large table-cut diamond, has also added to the confusion due to its resemblance to the Habsburg creation.

To both Mughal emperors and Indian maharajas, the quality and size of the gem were of paramount importance, and table-cut diamonds were valued for their clarity and size above all else.

The emeralds were table-cut and the intervals between the emeralds and rubies, were covered with diamonds, also table-cut and not exceeding 10 to 12 carats in weight.

Playing with rings, at right, that included a table-cut emerald of 14 carats, a jonquil yellow diamond and other bold pieces in aquamarine, rose quartz and amethysts, the designer is hoping to prove her attraction to high fashion.

The Romans delighted in incorporating such colored stones as emeralds and rubies and were the first to use diamonds after the first century A.D. By the Renaissance, there appeared table-cut diamonds, which are flat-topped stones.

"Tanishq has managed to replicate the essence of the era," a company representative said when the jewelry tie-in came out, meaning it had piled on details lifted from movies about maharajahs - lots of table-cut diamonds, fine enameling and kundan, or thin, fused gold strips, known particularly in Rajasthan.

At 28 carats, the central stone is the largest mirror or table-cut diamond known to survive, and the five diamonds (ranging from 16 to 28 carats) are the largest known matching set of table-cut diamonds from the Mughal 17th century.