The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-05-14
THE ROUGH DIAMOND
Three Processes Through Which
the Uncut Stone Passes.
SPLIT, CUT AND POLISHED.
The Flaws In the Gem Decide the
Number Of Parts Into Which II Must
De Split--Ths Difference Between
the Roses and the Hrilliants.

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the Roses and the Hrilliants.
The first Of the three processes
through which the rough, uncut dla.
mond has to pass Is that Of splitting
the stone, Men are employed at this
task. which Is all done by hand with.
out the aid Of machinery. II Is not a
lengthy process unless the stone con
tains great many flaws, for an or.
dinary diamond weighing about ten
carats can generally be split In fifteen
minutes. The object Ii to divide the
rough, uncut diamond containing flaws
into several pure, tlawless stones, aud
In order to do this strong pressure Is
exerted on the weak spots caused by
davis by means of a diamond tipped
tool, which is held In the right hand.
1t is an old and well recognized prln-
ciple that nothing but diamond will
cut diamond" In the left hand II
held a curiously shaped little frame
into which the rough diamond now to
be split has been firmly fixed. Great
pressure is then used on the weak spot.
and In few moments the diamond
splits into two portions,
Should there be any more daws In
either Of these sections the process Is
repeated until several pure, fawless
diamonds lie on the rough wooden tables
Of the workmen, ready now for the
second process-that OF cutting. This
process, like the first, is almost entirely
performed by hand, but by women and
girls instead Of men. Only In the case
Of very hard, difficult stones is ma,
chinery necessary, and then men are
employed to use II.
The work of diamond cutting Is a
delicate and difficult task. very trying
to the eyes. too, for some of the dia.
monds are so minute that 400 Of them
or more may weight only half carat.
Each worker Is responsible for the
packet Of diamonds she receives at In
tervals from the forewoman, and II by
accident she loses one of the precious
stones she has either to find II again
or refund its value. The tools employ.
ed In diamond cutting are very similar
In appearance to those used In diamond
splitting. In both cases diamonds are
used as knives, after having been firm.
iy fixed into the tip of pear shaped
tools. The women hold In the left
hand the rough diamond they wish to
cut. which has also been firmly fixed
into a wooden frame. Little Jets OF
gas are always kept burning ON the
various tables ready to be used at any
moment when melted wax is neces.
sary.
The only real difference In the two
processes of diamond splitting and dia-
mond cutting lies In the fact that
whereas the men who split the dia.
monds use pressure on one spot only
(where the flaw occurs) the women de-
vote themselves to rounding the whole |
stone and carefully cutting of all an
giles to be seen on its surface by means
OF the sharp diamonds they hold In
their right hand. Occasionally they
have very large diamonds to cut which
take great deal Of time, but an ordi-
nary stone weighing about ten carats
would not take so very long.
When the diamond has been suffi.
ciently cut and rounded, It Is then
ready for the third and last process,
that Of polishing. This work requires
a great deal Of time and skill and Is
performed entirely by machinery, a
steam engine supplying the motive
power for all the iron disks. The
process consists In giving to the round.
ed diamonds what is termed In techni-
cal language their necessary sides"
All diamonds are divided into two
classes, "brilliants" and "roses," al
though the only real difference between
them lies In the number of sides they
Individually possess after having been
polished in one Of the many diamond
factories. A brilliant must possess
fifty eight sides Ia few years ago the
owest number was sixty-four, for there
are fashions In diamond cutting). but
rose need only possess twenty.four
,ides.
Another, though slight, difference be-
:ween them Is that brilliant is point.
ID at both ends, while rose diamond
has one end fattened and the other
pointed. When the diamond is ready
o be polished 1t has first to be soldered
nto pear shaped frame made of zinc
md then dipped into a preparation Of {
III and diamond dust before being
fastened, with three others, into
'trong frame placed In close proximity !
o an iron wheel.
This little disk Is then set In motion
" connecting 1t with the great engine,
md the wheel Immediately turns at
he rate Of 1000 revolutions to the I
minute. /,
AS 1t reyolves the four diamonds set !
n the adjacent frame are gradually /,
'olished by means Of the friction pro-
luced on their surface by the particles
# diamond dust still adhering to the :
III into which they had been previous I
y dipped (
Only one portion of diamond can !
'e polished at once, and consequently
yhen this part has been dealt with the