The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-02-05
TAKES SKILL TO
CUT DIAMONDS
Methods of Turning the Rough
Stones Into BriI|iants Ex-
planned by Expert.
WORLD WAR PUT PRICES, UP
But They Are Being Bought and Dis
played in This Country More Than
Ever Before-very Few Are
Perfect.

New York.-Diamonds as coveted
gems and ornaments have lost none of
their popularity. Since the late war
many persons who never possessed
these brilliants are wearing them to-
day, even though they cost more than
formerly. Few persons realize the
skill 1t takes to cut and polish dia-
lnonds for the market.
Diamonds as they are found In the
rough state" Herbert P. Whitlock,
curator of the department Of mineral
ogy at the Museum of Natural His
tory, said, "are not impressive. They
have none of the magical flashes OF
light which In the polished stone
makes them unique among the noble
family of gems. And 1t is here that
a goodly part of the price Of diamonds
is accumulated. For the art Of turn
ing a rough diamond into a polished
brilliant is long process requiring
"a superlative degree of skill. There is
no better way to appreciate this than
/ to follow the diamond from the mine
! to the jeweler and see for ourselves
Just what happens to it.
! "When the diamonds are recovered
from the mine they are not by any
means all Of them clear and colorless,
as self-respecting diamond should
be; indeed. only about Is per cent OF
the stones found are without some
faint color.
$50 we find that at the beginning
of it's travels the diamond is intro
duced to the sorter. The sorter Is a
kind of super-expert on diamonds,
whose eye has been trained through
years of practice to detect the slight
est variations in color Of diamonds
and to find flaws in the stones with
an ease which is little less than un
canny.
Sorting the Diamonds.
"The first consideration in sorting
diamonds Is the adaptability Of the
stone for cutting. Let us assume that
the stone whose travels we are fol
lowing is sorted into the grade known
as close goods comprising fiawless
crystals from which fair-sized bril-
Iiants can be cut, or, to use the trade
term, made These usually have
eight sides or facets triangular IL
shape. Next comes re-sorting Of
the close goods into eight grades
ranging from blue white, which com
prises the finest quality stones, to vel
low and brown, which are so badl!
off color as to be unfit for gems.
IF our stone has passed the crit
cal test of the sorter and Is place.
In one Of the higher grades, it 4
weighed, wrapped up In parcel witt
others of its kind, price per cara
is assigned to it and 1t Is sold to {
diamond dealer and ultimately find
its way to the workshop. Of the dia
mond polisher. Here at the hands o
a highly skilled workman 1t is des
tined to be turned into gem fit t
grace beauty or opulence.
s'Most Of this is done In Holland
and especially in Amsterdam. which
since the Fifteenth century. has bee
famous for this industry.
aThe surface Irregularities, togethe
with any superficial flaws, are frs
split away from the stone.
Sometimes when the stone Is larg
It Is Of advantage to saw 1t into tw
or more pieces so as to save as niue
as possible of the weight in cut dis
monds.
"The rough shaping Of the damon
is done through an operation Gale
: 'bruiting,' which consists of wearin
away the corners by rubbing one ston
against another. This was formerly
manual process, the two diamonds b'
ing mounted on sticks held In eithe
hand by the lapidary. But even ]
the ancient and conservative art