With 25 facets on the crown and 48 facets on the pavilion, making the total of 73 facets, Zinnia is the cut that can be simply described as "The fiery petals in the round contour".

The Zinnia Cut was originally introduced as part of a group of "Flower Cuts" by De Beers in 1989. All the cuts in the group were the brainchild of master Antwerp cutter Gabi Tolkowsky, who thought his new cutting technique gave the stones "maximum brilliance."

Nicholas Oppenheimer, chairman of the Central Selling Organization (CSO), presented five new diamond cutting designs at the 24th World Diamond Congress in Singapore in August 1989. The cuts are registered as Fire-Rose, Sunflower, Zinnia, Marigold, and Dahlia.

Planned for rough that is included, colored, irregular in shape, or small, the new cuts include rounds and fancy-shapes. According to the CSO, some of the cuts enhance brilliance, others improve the appearance of the stone's color or clarity, and all produce higher weight yield than most conventional cuts. They can be adapted to sizes ranging from melee to several carats.

The new cuts have proportions that vary beyond the range usually seen in conventional cuts. For example, the table sizes of most round brilliants are between 55 and 65 percent; those of the new cuts range from about 47 to 62 percent. Another example is total depth percentage: The usual range for conventional cuts is around 55 to 65 percent, but the new cuts run from about 50 to more than 77 percent.

After preliminary studies by the CSO, cutter Gabi Tolkowsky created the new designs. Tolkowsky has also been commissioned to cut the 599 carat Centenary diamond for De Beers. Starting in the business at the age of 15, he has been in the diamond industry over 30 years.

Tolkowsky's family has been in the industry much longer. His great, great grandfather Abraham Tolkowsky founded a six-generation cutting dynasty. His relatives include Lazare Kaplan (of Lazare Kaplan, Inc.) who cut the 726-carat Jonker diamond in 1936; Marcel Tolkowsky, one of the first to apply modern optical theories to diamond cutting; and Sam Tolkowsky, first chairman of the Antwerp Diamond Bourse. His father Jean Tolkowsky was a pioneer diamond cutter and instructor in Israel.