Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1893-10-19
The Trade in Diamonds.

The Trade in Diamonds.
"A large number of the diamonds
| found in the trade, said msmber Of
one of the leading diamond firms Of
thisicity, come from the Cape mines
at the southern end of Africa. There
are seven or eight of these mines, the
largest being the Kimberly, which
covers some twenty acres Of land. In
the last sixteen years these mines
have yielded largely, many fine stones
having been found. But the Kimberly
stones-with the exception Of the cele
bratsd Peter Rhode stone, which
weighed $50 carats in the rough-are
not always of the finest quality.
Though large (they get them as high
rs 300 carats) many of them are only
worth cutting into smaller stones.
India once did but no longer does
enter into trade considerations as d
great diamond producing country.
The Brazilian diamond, though small,
is often of a finer quality than the
African or Indian stone. In Brazil
the diamond is usually found in the
sandy beds of rivers, while the Cape
stones are dug out at depth Of from
300 to 500 feet below the surface. The
Brazilian stones are found in kind OF
soft, soapy muck called blue earth.
Some are almost round, while others
have eight sides In weight they will
average from two to ten carats; com
paratively few stones above fifteen
carats being found. This is in the
rough. Cutting reduces them nearly
half their natural size.
The carat that | speak of is one
peculiar to diamonds, rubieS, sap.
phires and opals. \ carat is trille
over seven pennyweights Troy weight.
Most of the Cape stones are sent to
London, where they are reshipped to
Amsterdam ard Antwerp, the great
cutting cities. Diamonds are also cut
as we'll in Maiden Lane as in Amster
dam. In cutting diamonds there is 3
general rule that one-third OF the stone
should lie above the Girdle and two
thirds below it. This proportion is
sometimes sacrificed in order to avoid
imperfection in a stone, such as black
spots and feathers, and at least one
half of the stones are more or less i'm
perfect.
Again, the size and shape OF
stone in the rough will determine
whether it shall be a single-cut, a
full.cut or rose cut diamond.
You may have noticed the many
little places OF sides to a cut diamond.
These are technically called facets. A
single-cut diamond has eighteen
facets and full-cut stone has fifty
eight facets, distributed above and
below in the girdle in the proportion |
have just mentioned. y small stone
will usually have only the single cut
of eighteen sides. \ full-cut diamond
is called brilliant, and this term is
incorrectly applied sometimes to Par
isian or paste diamonds.
The third, or rose-cut, is given to
stones which are too small and thin
for either of the other cuts. The
shape Of the rose-cut diamond is ps-
cuiar, inasmuch as the stone is fiat
on the bottom and faceted on top,
and you will understand how small
the rose-cut stones are when | tell you
that it often takes several hundred Of
them TO make carat weight. They
are very useful, however, in filing in
corners, etc.
Apart from the consideration |
have noted, the diamond cutter is
guided by his own discretion and
taste in modelling a stone. The oper-
alton is simple enough. 1t is the old
saying about diamond cutting dia-
mond illustrated. The workman
merely GuDS Out IOu5i Nio44OH
against the other. Then comes the
polishing, which is done by holding
the cut stone down against wheel
which revolves at an extremely rapid
rate. In applying the stone to the
wheel the cutter must look out for
flaws, or the diamond will be caught
on some rough point and be ruined In
less than the traditional jiffy. As to
the time taken to cut aud polish a
stone, one cutter will work fast enough
to keep half a dozen polishers busy,
and a good polisher will polish about
twenty carats a week.
Regarding the color OF diamonds
continued the speaker, there isevery
imaginable tint, but the principal
trade colors are the standard white,
the BLUSH tint, the yellow and the
brown. The white, while the most
valuable, is not always the most bril-
liant. The blueish tint is favorite
and much sought after. The yellow