Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1908-06-26
CUTTING A FINE GEM
Preparation Of culiinan Diamond
For King Edward.
STONE FIRST SPLIT IN TWO.
Biggest Piece Of Transvas,'s Gif. to
British monareh Will Weigh eco
Carsts-To Be One Of Crown Jewels.
Precautions Taken In Guarding It,

Carats-To Be One Of Crown Jewels.
Precautions Taken In Guarding It.
Beside the details given out the men
who are negotiating the WORK OF cut.
ting the Cullipan diamond. the gift Of
the Transvaal to King Edward VII, the
historic stories Of the kohinoor, Queen
Nictoria's celebrated gem, pale their
Intellectual fires. Quietly and unosten-
tatiously Louis Asscher and Henry
Duizend Of the firm of Joseph Asscher
L. Co. of London, Paris and Amsterdam
arrived at New York the other day for
their FIRST visit, but they were found
out and made to talk of the greatest
jewel perhaps the world has ever
known. The Cullinan diamond after
1t has been cut Is to be placed among
the crown jewels Of the royal family
Of Great Britain, and the work Of sep
arating 1t into parts and removing pos.
sible defects was essentially delicate
one. Joseph Asscber, head Of the firm,
undertook the task in person.
First he cleft the diamond into two
pieces In such a way that defective
spot in 1t was split exactly in the Gen.
ter, leaving a part of this defect on
each piece of the stone. Now from
one piece is being cut the large dia.
mond, and the other part will be cut
into smaller sizes, and even then one
of these smaller stones when finished
will be one of the largest diamonds in
existence. The larger stone probably
will be drop shaped.
In explaining how the work was done
Louis Asscher said It was necessary
to proceed slowly in such an under
taking. First a model of the diamond
was prepared in clay, and experiments
were made upon this model to arrive at
u definite plan Of procedure. When 1t
had been determined how best to pro-
coed special box, with sliding sides,
was prepared. and the diamond was i'm
bedded in cement and placed on the
top of a stick, not unlike large drum
stick, and an incision about one-half Of
an inch in depth was made by another
stick, in which was imbedded sharp
cutting diamond, edge upward. When
the incision was made specially con-
structed knife blade was placed in the
slit and struck with terrific force with
thick piece Of steel, cleaving the
stone in twain.
Now that the stone has been cleft,
MIR. Asscher said. the process of polish
ing it Is under way. Three men work
In one room from Z o'clock in the morn
ing until 0 o'clock at night and never
leave for an instant during that period
of time. These men are in a specially
arranged room, and no one else is per-
mitted to enter 1t without the consent
Of some member Of the firm, who
thereupon accompanies the visitor.
The polishing Of the diamonds has
required the manufacture of special In
struments. A special "dop," as it is
called, has been made, weighing about
twenty pounds and measuring about
six inches across. The mill used Is Of
cast iron and steel and Is fifteen and
one-half inches across, making 2.40O
revolutions a minute. The mill is lu-
bricated with preparation consisting
Of crushed diamond powder and oil.
and necessarily large quantity Is
utilized. AS the "dop" is SO heavy, 1t
is impossible to take the big diamond
from the mill with the hand, as is
usual, and therefore special instru-
ment has been made for the purpose.
This mechanical device is 80 construct
ed that it works by foot power and
raises the diamond from the mill.
That part Of the stone which is being
prepared for King Edward will be be-
tween 500 and 600 carats In weight
and Of the purest color. In spea king
Of the extraordinary precautions OBJ
served to guard such precious pos.
session Mr.. Asscher said:
'The diamond is kept in the strong
room Of our new factory and is guard
ed day and night by four armed po-
licemen. This strong room is on the
ground floor of the factory, and the
walls Of it are three-quarters Of yard
thick and of strong iron. The door can
be opened only by combination Of
numbers. which is known to no one
but three members Of the firm.
"Once the door is opened a strong
iron barred door is displayed to view.
and this has TO be unlocked before the
strong room can be entered. At the
left OF the room there is a mahogany
cupboard Of ordinary appearance. with
two handles, but with no locks visible.
There are, however, nine locks behind
the sliding panel. The door OF the
safe IL eight inches thick and conceals
two safes. in one Of which the Cullinan
diamond reposes at night.
1--WE observe still further precau-
tons, however. The head Of the firm,
accompanied by no fewer than ten
men, takes the diamond to it's secure
resting place for the night aud returns
1t to the working room in the morning..
There is small patent recording clock
outside the strong room, and it Is the
duty Of the night watchman to make
a certain mark on this clock every half
hour, and he must live up to this duty
to the second despite the; fact that the
armed policemen are. On patrol al
throughout the building every UoMent
sf tAA nifht" ...,.....