The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1889-08-28
THE DIAMOND CUTTERS.
ONE HUNDRED MEN WHO EARN
HIGH WAGES IN NEW YORK.

al OtthRAAlOh w hAlANh NNGUulfGS
thence and Delicacy of Touch
Tho Various Processes Described
A French lad of sixteen, busy amid
the noise and heat of John street dia.
mond cutters loft, was shaping, with
his bare fingers, little mass of half mol.
ten solder just out of a gas-heated cruel.
BILE. The solder lay in a small cup-hkC
piece of copper, to which a stem ter
inches long was attached. After the
mass had been patted into a swelling
hemisphere the lad took diamond from
the bench beside him and embedded it in
the still plastic mass. Then he wiped of
little crumbs of the solder and pressed
Ihe stone this way and that until it was
almost hidden from sight. This done, he
placed the stem of the copper cup in a
sort of handle and turned it over to
the diamond polisher. A moment later
the gem was laid upon a wheel that made
250O revolutions a minute, and the work
of grinding a new facet had begun.
The fifteen diamond cutting concerns
of New York polish 10000 carats of
rough diamonds each year, rather more
than the annual output of the Brazilian
mines. One hundred skilled worlImen
are employed in the trade, and the bosses
say that the diamond cutters of New
York are the best in the world. The bust
ness has grown up within ten or fifteen
years, but already most of the appren.
tices are native Americans. A clever lad
beginning the trade at fifteen may be-
come skilled workman in five or six
years. The best diamond cutters under
favorable conditions earn from $40 to
$50 a week. These are better wages Than
those earned by any save the most famous
foreign diamond cutters. Workmen here
are more intelligent and trustworthy than
those of Holland, France, or England.
the chief diamond cutting countries of
Europe. Theft is common abroad, but
unusual here.
In looking about diamond cutting
establishment one would hardly suspect
the precious character of the material in
use. The floors are bare, the windows
are open, and any one may enter by the
door unchallenged. Much is trusted tc
the honesty of the workman, but some
simple precautions are taken. When
diamond cutter receives an invoice OF
stones he carefully studies each one, an6
takes note of its color, size, weight and
shape. The winter ones look like bits OF
clear alum, the darker like clouded quartz
The rarest and costliest stones are of sky
blue pink, and black. Ordinarily, how.
ever, the pure water colored diamond
without tint or flaw is most sought after
When the boss cutter has made ac
curate record of his rough diamonds he
divides them into groups of four or five
and gives a group to each workman
From this time forth the man to whom
they are intrusted is responsible for the
stones. He returns them each night tc
the boss, and the progress of the work is
carefully noted. In this way it is made
extremely difficult for fraud to be prac
ticed. A cutter is seldom permitted tc
polish stone belonging to any one but
the boss. Doubtless the workman would
be careful to avoid confusion, but mis-.
takes might arise. Now and then 8
clever substitution is managed, and once
In long while outright theft is COM
mitted.
The first work done upon the rough
diamond is clcaving. The stone is placed
in a peculiar cement that softens easily
and hardens quickly. A little notch on
the line Of cleavage is made with another
diamond, the edge of an old razor is
placed in this notch, and with sharp
blow of the hammer, the diamond is
split. OF course, when a diamond can
be worked whole it is not sTlit. After
cleaving comes cutting. The diamond
is placed in q little mass of cement on the
end of stick and scraped with another
diamond similarly embedded. The cut
ter has six points presented to him, and
he begins with the one that seems most
promising. His choice decides which
shall be the upper surface of the dia-
mond, for in the "brilliantn cutting.
which is the most difficult and the one
almost generally practised here, the ex-
posed surface is slightly flattened, while
the under side runs to the apex of
pyramid. In this way eight or ten facets
are made.
From the cutter the stone goes to the
grinder, or polisher, who patiently turns
it and turns it until the swiftly whirline
wheel has cut upon the surface fifty
eight tiny facets. These Hfty-eight facets
appear upon every diamond cut as
brilliant, whether it be ten-carat stone
as broad as your thumb nail, or a tiny
spark not bigger than two pin heads.
Now and then a stone is spoiled in the
polishing; sometimes one is found that
cannot be made to shape itself into the
fifty-eight facets. The wheel on which
the stones are polished is a soft iron disk
lined with innumerable curved rays run
ming from center to circumference. This
is sprinllled with diamond dust and sweet
oil. The moment a scratch appears on
the wheel the diamond must be removed
to some other part of the surface.
The finished stone comes from the
wheel covered with gummy oil, but ten
minute bath in sulphuric acid leaves the
surface clean and brilliant. Diamonds
pendent from pearly ears or shining on
snowy throats never look so beautiful as
they look unset and heaped together
upon oiled paper at the diamond cutters.
Few large diamonds are cut in New
York. Diamond cutters smile when the
"Cleveland gem is mentioned. Great
things were expected of this stone, and
itweighed ffty-fou carats when polished,
but color and cutting were a disappoint-
ment. A ten-carat diamond is rarely cut
in A1noriga NI,uE Of IL, -t,,,,. ~ I x,-..