The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1921-01-07
TAKES SKILL TO
CUT DIAMONDS
Methods OF Turning the Rough
Stones lntO BriIIiants Ex-
planned by Expert. !,
WORLD WAR PUT PRICES UP
But They Are Being Bought and Die
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 briIllants are wearing them to-
day, even though they cost more thas
formerly. Few persons realize the
skill II takes to cut and polish dia-
monds 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 sunique among the noble
family of gems. And II is here that
a goodly part Of the price Of diamonds
is accumulated. For the art Of turn
ing n rough diamond into o. polished
brilliant is a long process requiring
superatiye degree Of skill. There Is
no better way TO appreciate this than
TO follow the diamond from the mine
10 the jeweler and see for ourselves
just what happens to 1t.
"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 20 per cent OF
the stones found are without some
faint color.
$50 we find that at the beginning
of its travels the diamond Is intro
duced to the sorter. The s0rter Is q
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 ndaptability 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 flawless
crystals from which, fair-sized bril-
liants can be cut, or, to use the trade
term, made These usually have
eight sides or facets triangular II
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 badly
of color as to be unfit for gems.
eff our stone has passed the crit
cal test of the sorter and Is placed
In one of the higher grades. II II
weighed, wrapped up In parcel witt
others of Its kind, price per cara
IA assigned TO II and II Is sold to {
diamond dealer and ultimately findi
its way to the workshop OF the dia
mond p0lIsher. Here at the hands O.
a highly skilled workman II is des
tined to be turned into gem fit I.
grace beauty or opulence.
.Most of, this is done In Holland
and especially In Amsterdam, which
since the Fifteenth century, has beef
famous for this industry.
"The surface irregularities, togethe
with any superficial flaws, are frs
split away from the stone.
Sometimes when the stone Is lare'
II Is of advantage TO saw 1t into tw,
or more pieces so as to save as mucl
as possible Of the weight in cut dla
monds.
aThe rough shaping of the diamond
Is done through an operation calle'
bruiting,' which consists Of wearin
AWAY the corners by rubbing one ston
against another. This was formerly
manual process. the two diamonds be
ing mounted on sticks held In eithe
hand by the lapidary. But even Il
the ancient and conservative art 0