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Discovering Diverse Content Through
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 Hydrostatic weighing is always available, unless the stone be very
small, but the necessary weighings occupy considerable time, and
care must be taken that no error creeps into the computation,
simple though it be. Even if everything is at hand, a determination is
scarcely possible under a quarter of an hour.
The third method, which takes even longer, is intended primarily
for powdered substances, and is not recommended for cut stones,
unless there happen to be a number of tiny ones which are known
to be exactly of the same kind.
The specific gravities of the gem-stones are given in Table VII at
the end of the book.
 CHAPTER IX

HARDNESS AND CLEAVABILITY

E VERY possessor of a diamond ring is aware that diamond easily

scratches window-glass. If other stones were tried, it would be
found that they also scratched glass, but not so readily, and, if the
experiment were extended, it would be found that topaz scratches
quartz, but is scratched by corundum, which in its turn yields to the
all-powerful diamond. There is therefore considerable variation in the
capacity of precious stones to resist abrasion, or, as it is usually
termed, in their hardness. To simplify the mode of expressing this
character the mineralogist Mohs about a century ago devised the
following arbitrary scale, which is still in general use.

Mohs’s Scale of Hardness

1. Talc
2. Gypsum
3. Calcite
4. Fluor
5. Apatite
6. Orthoclase
7. Quartz
8. Topaz
9. Corundum
10. Diamond

A finger-nail scratches gypsum and softer substances. Ordinary

window-glass is slightly softer than orthoclase, and a steel knife is
slightly harder; a hardened file approaches quartz in hardness, and
easily scratches glass.
 By saying that a stone has hardness 7 we merely mean that it will
not scratch quartz, and quartz will not scratch it. The numbers
indicate an order, and have no quantitative significance whatever.
This is an important point about which mistakes are often made. We
must not, for instance, suppose that diamond has twice the
hardness of apatite. As a matter of fact, the interval between
diamond and corundum is immensely greater than that between the
latter and talc, the softest of mineral substances. Intermediate
degrees of hardness are expressed by fractions. The number 8½ for
chrysoberyl means that it scratches topaz as easily as it itself is
scratched by corundum. Pyrope garnet is slightly harder than quartz,
and its hardness is said therefore to be 7¼.
Delicate tests show that the structure of all crystallized substances
is more or less grained, like that of wood, and the hardness for the
same stone varies in different directions. Kyanite is unique in this
respect, since its hardness ranges from 5 to 7; it can therefore be
scratched by a knife in some directions, but not in others. In most
substances, however, the range is so small as to be quite
imperceptible. Slight variation is also apparent in the hardness of
different specimens of the same species. The diamonds from Borneo
and New South Wales are so distinctly harder than those from South
Africa and other localities that, when first discovered, some difficulty
was experienced in cutting them. Again, lapidaries find that while
Ceylon sapphires are harder than rubies, Kashmir sapphires are
softer.
Hardness is a character of fundamental importance in a stone
intended for ornamental wear, since upon it depends the durability of
the polish and brilliancy. Ordinary dust is largely composed of grains
of sand, which is quartz in a minute form, and a gem-stone should
therefore be at least as hard as that. Paste imitations are little
harder than 5, and consequently, as experience shows, their polish
does not survive a few weeks’ wear. Hardness is, however, of little
use as a discriminative test except for distinguishing between topaz
or harder stone and paste. Diamond is so much harder than other
stones that it will leave a cut in glass quite different from the scratch
of even corundum. Paste, being so soft, readily yields to the file, and
is thus easily distinguished from genuine stones. In applying the test
to a cut stone, it is best to remove it from its mount and try the
effect on the girdle, because any scratch would be concealed
afterwards by the setting. Any mark should be rubbed with the
finger to assure that it is not due to powder from the scratching
agent; confusion may often be caused in this way when the two
substances are of nearly the same hardness.
The degrees of hardness of the gem-stones are given in Table VIII
at the end of the book.

It must not be overlooked that extreme hardness is compatible

with cleavability in certain directions intimately connected with the
crystalline structure; the property, in fact, characterizes many
mineral species of different degrees of hardness. Diamond can be
split in four directions parallel to the faces of the regular octahedron,
a property utilized by the lapidary for shaping a stone previous to
cutting it. Topaz cleaves with considerable ease at right angles to the
principal crystallographic axis. Felspar has two directions of cleavage
nearly at right angles to one another. The new gem-stone, kunzite,
needs cautious handling owing to the facility with which it splits in
two directions mutually inclined at about 70°.
All stones are more or less brittle, and will be fractured by a
sufficiently violent blow, but the irregular surface of a fracture
cannot be mistaken for the brilliant flat surface given by a cleavage.
The cleavage is by no means induced with equal facility in the
species mentioned above. A considerable effort is required to split
diamond, but in the case of topaz or kunzite incipient cleavage in the
shape of flaws may be started if the stone be merely dropped on to
a hard floor.
 CHAPTER X

ELECTRICAL CHARACTERS

T HE definite orientation of the molecular arrangement of

crystallized substances leads in many cases to attributes which
vary with the direction and are revealed by the electrical properties.
If a tourmaline crystal be heated in a gas or alcohol flame it
becomes charged with electricity, and, since it is at the same time a
bad conductor, static charges of opposite sign appear at the two
ends. Topaz shows similar characters, but in a lesser degree. Quartz,
if treated in the same way, shows charges of opposite sign on
different sides, but the phenomenon may be masked by intimate
twinning and consequent overlapping of the contrary areas. The
phenomenon may also be seen when the stones are cut. The most
convenient method for detecting the existence of the electrical
charges is that devised by Kundt. A powder consisting of a mixture
of red lead and sulphur is placed in a bellows arrangement and
blown through a sieve at one end on to the stone. Owing to the
friction the particles become electrified—red lead positively and
sulphur negatively—and are attracted by the charges of opposing
sign, which will therefore be betrayed by the colour of the dust at
the corresponding spot. The powder must be kept dry; otherwise a
chemical reaction may occur leading to the formation of lead
sulphide, recognizable by its black colour. Bücker has suggested as
an alternative the use of sulphur, coloured red with carmine, the
negative element, and yellow lycopodium, the positive element.
Diamond, topaz, and tourmaline are powerful enough, when
electrified by friction with a cloth, to attract fragments of paper, the
electrification being positive. Amber develops considerable negative
electricity when treated in a similar manner.
 Diamond is translucent to the Röntgen (X) rays; glass, on the
other hand, is opaque to them, and this test distinguishes brilliants
from paste imitations. Diamond also, unlike glass, phosphoresces
under the influence of radium, a property characterizing also kunzite.
It will be seen that the electrical characters, although of
considerable interest to the student, are, on account of their limited
application and difficulty of test, of little service for the discrimination
of gem-stones.
 PART I—SECTION B
THE TECHNOLOGY OF GEM-STONES
 CHAPTER XI

UNIT OF WEIGHT

T HE system in use for recording the weights of precious stones is

peculiar to jewellery. The unit, which is known as the carat,
bears no simple relation to any unit that has existed among
European nations, and indubitably has been introduced from the
East. When man in early days sought to record the weights of small
objects, he made use of the most convenient seeds or grains which
were easily obtainable and were at the same time nearly uniform in
size. In Europe the smallest unit of weight was the barley grain.
Similarly in the East the seeds of some leguminous tree were
selected. Those of the locust-tree, Ceratonia siliqua, which is
common in the countries bordering the Mediterranean, on the
average weigh so nearly a carat that they almost certainly formed
the original unit. It is, indeed, from the Greek κεράτιον, little horn,
which refers to the shape of the pods, that the word carat is derived.
It is one of the eccentricities of the jewellery trade that precision
should not have been given to the unit of weight. Not only does it
vary at most of the trade centres in the world, but it is not even
always constant at each centre. The difference is negligible in the
case of single stones of ordinary size, but becomes a matter of
serious importance when large stones, or parcels of small stones,
are bought and sold, particularly when the stones are very costly.
Attempts have been made at various times to secure a uniform
standard, but as yet with only partial success. In 1871 the carat
defined as the equivalent of 0·20500 gram was suggested at a
meeting of the principal jewellers of Paris and London, and was
eventually accepted in Paris, New York, Leipzig, and Borneo. It has,
however, recently been recognized that in view of the gradual spread
of the metric system of weights and measures the most satisfactory
unit is the metric carat of one-fifth (0·2) gram. This has now been
constituted the legal carat of France and Belgium, and no doubt
other countries will follow their example. The carat weight obtaining
in London weighs about 0·20530 gram, and the approximate
equivalents in the gram at other centres are as follows:—Florence
0·19720, Madrid 0·20539, Berlin 0·20544, Amsterdam 0·20570,
Lisbon 0·20575, Frankfort-on-Main 0·20577, Vienna 0·20613, Venice
0·20700, and Madras 0·20735. The gram itself is inconveniently
large to serve as a unit for the generality of stones met with in
ordinary jewellery.
The notation for expressing the sub-multiples of the carat forms
another curious eccentricity. Fractions are used which are powers of
the half: thus the half, the half of that, i.e. the quarter, and so on
down to the sixty-fourth, and the weight of a stone is expressed by a
series of fractions, e.g. 3½⅛1/64 carats. In the case of diamond a
single unreduced fraction to the base 64 is substituted in place of
the series of single fractions, and the weight of a stone is stated
thus, 440/64 carats. With the introduction of the metric carat the more
convenient and rational decimal notation would, of course, be
simultaneously adopted.

Figs. 34–39.—Exact Sizes of Brilliants of various Weights.

Figs. 34–39 illustrate the exact sizes of diamonds of certain

weights, when cut as brilliants. The sizes of other stones depends
upon their specific gravity, the weight varying as the volume
multiplied by the specific gravity. Quartz, for instance, has a low
specific gravity and would be perceptibly larger, weight for weight;
zircon, on the other hand, would be smaller.
 It has been found more convenient to select a smaller unit in the
case of pearls, namely, the pearl-grain, four of which go to the carat.
Stencil gauges are in use for measuring approximately the weight
in carats of diamond brilliants and of pearls, which in both instances
must be unmounted. A more accurate method for determining the
weight of diamonds has been devised by Charles Moe, which is
applicable to either unmounted or mounted stones. By means of
callipers, which read to three-tenths of a millimetre, the diameter
and the depth of the stone are measured, and by reference to a
table the corresponding weight is found; allowance is made for the
varying fineness of the girdle, and, in the case of large stones, for
the variation from a strictly circular section.

Since this chapter was written the movement in favour of the

metric carat has made rapid progress, and this unit will soon have
been adopted as the legal standard all over the world, even in
countries, such as the British Isles and the United States, where the
metric system is not in use. The advantage of an international unit is
too obvious to need arguing.
 CHAPTER XII

FASHIONING OF GEM-STONES

A LTHOUGH many of the gem-stones have been endowed by

nature with brilliant lustrous faces and display scintillating
reflections from their surfaces, yet their form is never such as to
reveal to full perfection the optical qualities upon which their charm
depends. Moreover, the natural faces are seldom perfect; as a rule
the stones are broken either through some convulsion of the earth’s
crust or in course of extraction from the matrix in which they have
lain, or they are roughened by attrition against matter of greater
hardness, or worn by the prolonged action of water, or etched by
solvents. Beautiful octahedra of diamond or spinel have been
mounted without further embellishment, but even their appearance
might have been much improved at the lapidary’s hands.
By far the oldest of the existing styles of cutting is the rounded
shape known as cabochon, a French word derived from the Latin
cabo, a head. In the days of the Roman Empire the softer stones
were often treated in this manner; such stones were supposed to be
beneficial to those suffering from short-sightedness, the reason no
doubt being that transparent stones when cut as a double cabochon
formed a convex lens. According to Pliny, Nero had an emerald thus
cut, through which he was accustomed to view the gladiatorial
shows. This style of cutting was long a favourite for coloured stones,
such as emerald, ruby, sapphire, and garnet, but has been
abandoned in modern practice except for opaque, semi-opaque, and
imperfect stones. The crimson garnet, which was at one time known
by the name carbuncle, was so systematically thus cut that the word
has come to signify a red garnet of this form. It was a popular
brooch-stone with our grandmothers, but is no longer in vogue. The
East still retains a taste for stones cut in the form of beads and
drilled through the centre; the beads are threaded together, and
worn as necklaces. The native lapidaries often improve the colour of
pale emeralds by lining the hole with green paint.

PLATE V

JEWELLERY DESIGNS
 The cabochon form may be of three different
kinds. In the first, the double cabochon (Fig. 40),
both the upper and the under sides of the stones
are curved. The curvature, however, need not be Fig. 40.—Double
the same in each case; indeed, it is usually (Convex)
markedly different. Moonstones and starstones are Cabochon.
generally cut very steep above
and shallow underneath. Occasionally a ruby or a
Fig. 41.—Simple sapphire is, when cut in this way, set with the
Cabochon. shallow side above, because the light that has
penetrated into the stone from above is more
wholly reflected from a steep surface with consequent increase in
the glow of colour from the stone. Opals are always cut higher on
the exposed side, but the slope of the surface varies considerably;
they are generally cut steeply when required for mounting in rings.
Chrysoberyl cat’s-eyes are invariably cut with curved bases in order
to preserve the weight as great as possible. The double cabochon
form with a shallow surface underneath merges into the second kind
(Fig. 41) in which the under side is plane, the form commonly
employed for quartz cat’s-eyes, and occasionally also for carbuncles.
In this type the plane side is invariably mounted downwards. In the
third form (Fig. 42) the curvature of the under surface is reversed,
and the stone is hollowed out into a concave shape. This style is
reserved for dark stones, such as carbuncles, which, if cut at all
thick, would show very little colour. A piece of foil is often placed in
the hollow in order to increase the reflection of light, and thus to
heighten the colour effect.
In early days it was supposed that the extreme
hardness of diamond precluded the possibility of
fashioning it, and up to the fifteenth century all Fig. 42.—Double
that was done was to remove the gum-like skin (Concavo-convex)
Cabochon.
which disfigured the Indian stones and to polish
the natural facets. The first notable advance was made in 1475,
when Louis de Berquem discovered, as it is said quite by accident,
that two diamonds if rubbed together ground each other. With
confident courage he essayed the new art upon three large stones
entrusted to him by Charles the Bold, to the entire satisfaction of his
patron. The use of wheels or discs charged with diamond dust soon
followed, but at first the lapidaries evinced their victory over such
stubborn material by grinding diamond into divers fantastic shapes,
and failed to realize how much might be done to enhance the
intrinsic beauty of the stones by the means now at their disposal.
The Indian lapidaries arrived at the same discovery independently,
and Tavernier found, when visiting the country in 1665, a large
number of diamond cutters actively employed. If the stone were
perfectly clear, they contented themselves with polishing the natural
facets; but if it contained flaws or specks, they covered it with
numerous small facets haphazardly placed. The stone was invariably
left in almost its original shape, and no effort was made to improve
the symmetry.
For a long time little further progress was made,
and even nearly a century after Berquem the only
regular patterns known to Kentmann, who wrote
in 1562, were the diamond-point and the
diamond-table (Figs. 43–44). The former
consisted of the natural octahedron facets ground
to regular shape, and was long employed for the Fig. 43.—Table
minute stones which were set in conjunction with Cut
large coloured stones in rings. The table (top view).
represented considerably
greater labour. One corner of the regular
octahedron was ground down until the artificial
facet thus produced was half the width of the
stone, while the opposite corner was slightly
Fig. 44.—Table
Cut ground.
(side view). Still another century elapsed before the
introduction of the rose pattern, which comprised twenty-four
triangular facets and a flat base (Figs. 45–46), the stone being
nearly hemispherical in shape. This style is said to have been the
invention of Cardinal Mazarin, but probably he was the first to have
diamonds of any considerable size cut in this form. At the present
day only tiny stones are cut as roses.
A few more years passed away, and at length at
the close of the seventeenth century diamond came
by its own when Vincenzio Peruzzi, a Venetian,
introduced the brilliant form of cutting, and revealed
for the first time its amazing ‘fire.’ Except for minor
changes this form remains to this day the standard
Fig. 45.—Rose
Cut (top view). style for the shape of diamond, and the word brilliant
is commonly employed to denote diamond cut in this
way. So obviously and markedly superior is the style to all others
that upon its discovery the owners of large roses had them re-cut as
brilliants despite the loss in weight necessitated by the change.
The brilliant form is derived from the old table by
increasing the number of facets and slightly altering
the angles pertaining to the natural octahedron. In a
perfect brilliant (Figs. 47–49) there are altogether Fig. 46.—Rose
58 facets, 33 above and 25 below the girdle, as the Cut (side view).
edge separating the upper and lower portions of the stone is
termed, which are arranged in the following manner. Eight star-
facets, triangular in shape, immediately surround the large table-
facet. Next come four large templets or bezels, quadrilateral in form,
arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the table-facet, the four
quoins or lozenges, similar in shape, coming intermediately between
them; in modern practice, however, these two sets are identical in
shape and size, and there are consequently eight facets of the same
kind instead of two sets of four. The eight cross or skew facets and
the eight skill facets, in both sets the shape being triangular, form
the boundary of the girdle; modern brilliants usually have instead
sixteen facets of the same shape and size. The above 33 facets lie
above the girdle and form the crown of the stone. Immediately
opposite and parallel to the table is the tiny culet. Next to the latter
come the four large pavilion facets with the four quoins
intermediately between them, both sets being five-sided but nearly
quadrilateral in shape; these again are usually combined into eight
facets of the same size. Eight cross facets and eight skill facets, both
sets, like those in the crown, being triangular in shape, form the
lower side of the girdle; these also are generally united into a set of
sixteen similar facets. These 25 facets which lie below the girdle
comprise the ‘pavilion,’ or base of the stone. In a regular stone
properly cut a templet is nearly parallel to a pavilion, and an upper
to a lower cross facet. The contour of the girdle is usually circular,
but occasionally assumes less symmetrical shapes, as for instance in
drop-stones or pendeloques, and the facets are at the same time
distorted. The number of facets may with advantage be increased in
the case of large stones. An additional set of eight star facets is
often placed round the culet, the total number then being 66. It may
be mentioned that the largest stone cut from the Cullinan has the
exceptional number of 74 facets.

Fig. 47.—Brilliant Cut Fig. 48.—Brilliant Cut

(top view). (base view).
In order to secure the finest optical effect
certain proportions have been found necessary.
The depth of the crown must be one-half that of
the base, and therefore one-third the total depth
of the stone, and the width of the table must be Fig. 49.—Brilliant
slightly less than half that of the stone. The culet Cut (side view).
should be quite small, not more in width than
one-sixth of the table; it is, in fact, not required at all except to avoid
the danger of the point splintering. The girdle should be as thin as is
compatible with strength sufficient to prevent chipping in the
process of mounting the stone; if it were left thick, the rough edge
would be visible by reflection at the lower facets, and would,
especially if at all dirty, seriously affect the quality of the stone. The
shape of the stone is largely determined by the sizes of the templets
in the crown and the pavilions in the base as compared with that of
the table, or, what comes to the same thing, by the inclinations at
which they are cut to that facet. If the table had actually half the
width of the stone, the angle[5] between it and a templet would be
exactly half a right angle or 45°; it is, however, made somewhat
smaller, namely, about 40°. A pavilion, being parallel to a templet,
makes a similar angle with the culet. The cross facets are more
steeply inclined, and make an angle of about 45° with the table or
the culet, as the case may be. The star facets, on the other hand,
slant perceptibly less, and make an angle of only about 26° with the
table. A latitude of some 4° or 5° is possible without seriously
affecting the ‘fire’ of the stone.
The object of the disposition of the facets on a brilliant is to
assure that all the light that enters the stone, principally by way of
the table, is wholly reflected from the base and emerges through the
crown, preferably by way of the inclined facets. A brilliant-cut
diamond, if viewed with the table between the observer and the
light, appears quite dark except for the small amount of light
escaping through the culet. Light should therefore fall on the lower
facets at angles greater than the critical angle of total-reflection,
which for diamond is 24° 26´. The pavilions should be inclined
properly at double this angle, or 48° 52´, to the culet; but a ray that
emerges at a pavilion in the actual arrangement entered the table at
nearly grazing incidence, and the amount of light entering this facet
at such acute perspective is negligible. On the other hand, after
reflection at the base light must, in order to emerge, fall on the
crown at less than the critical angle of total-reflection. In Fig. 50 are
shown diagrammatically the paths of rays that entered the table in
divers ways. The ray emerging again at the table suffers little or no
dispersion and is almost white, but those coming out through the
inclined facets are split up into the rainbow effect, known as ‘fire,’ for
which diamond is so famous. It is in order that so much of the light
entering by the table may emerge through the inclined facets of the
crown that the pavilions are inclined at not much more than 40° to
the culet. It might be suggested that instead of being faceted the
stone should be conically shaped, truncated above and nearly
complete below. The result would no doubt be steadier, but, on the
other hand, far less pleasing. It is the ever-changing nuance that
chiefly attracts the eye; now a brilliant flash of purest white, anon a
gleam of cerulean blue, waxing to richest orange and dying in a
crimson glow, all intermingled with the manifold glitter from the
surface of the stone. Absolute cleanliness is essential if the full
beauty of any stone is to be realized, but this is particularly true of
diamond. If the back of the stone be clogged with grease and dirt,
as so often happens in claw-set rings, light is no longer wholly
reflected from the base; much of it escapes, and the amount of ‘fire’
is seriously diminished.

Fig. 50.—Course of the Rays of Light passing through a Brilliant.

Needless to state, lapidaries make no careful angular

measurements when cutting stones, but judge of the position of the
facets entirely by eye. It sometimes therefore happens that the
permissible limits are overstepped, in which event the stone is dead
and may resist all efforts to vivify it short of the heroic course of re-
cutting it, too expensive a treatment in the case of small stones.
The factors that govern the properties of a brilliant-cut stone are
large colour-dispersion, high refraction, and freedom from any trace
of intrinsic colour. The only gem-stone that can vie with diamond in
these respects is zircon. Although it is rare to find a zircon naturally
without colour, yet many kinds are easily deprived of their tint by the
application of heat. A brilliant-cut zircon is, indeed, far from readily
distinguished by eye from diamond, and has probably often passed
as one, but it may easily be identified by its large double refraction
(cf. p. 41) and inferior hardness. The remaining colourless stones,
such as white sapphire, topaz, and quartz (rock-crystal), have
insufficient refractivity to give total-reflection at the base, and,
moreover, they are comparatively deficient in ‘fire.’
A popular style of cutting which is much in
vogue for coloured stones is the step- or
trap-cut, consisting of a table and a series of
facets with parallel horizontal edges (Figs.
Fig. 51.—Step- or Trap- 51–52) above and below the girdle; in recent
Cut (top view). jewellery, however,
the top of the stone is often brilliant-cut. The
contour may be oblong, square, lozenge, or
heart-shaped, or have less regular forms. Fig. 52.—Step- or Trap-
The table is sometimes slightly rounded. Cut (side view).
Since the object of this style is primarily to
display the intrinsic colour of the stone and not so much a brilliant
play of light from the interior, no attempt is made to secure total-
reflection at the lower facets. The stone therefore varies in depth
according to its tint; if dark, it is cut shallow, lest light be wholly
absorbed within, and the stone appear practically opaque, but if
light, it is cut deep, in order to secure fullness of tint. Much precision
in shape and disposition of the facets is not demanded, and the
stones are usually cut in such a way that, provided the desired effect
is obtained, the weight is kept as great as possible; we may recall
that stones are sold by weight. In considering what will be the
optical effect of any particular shape, regard must be had to the
effective colour of the transmitted light. For instance, although
sapphire and ruby belong to the same species and have the same
refractive indices, yet, since the former transmits mainly blue and
the latter red light, they have for practical purposes appreciably
different indices, and lapidaries find it therefore possible to cut the
base of ruby thicker than that of sapphire, and thus keep the weight
greater. It is instructive too what can be done with the most
unpromising material by the exercise of a little ingenuity. Thus
Ceylon sapphires are often so irregularly coloured that considerable
skill is called for in cutting them. A stone may, for instance, be
almost colourless except for a single spot of blue; yet, if the stone
be cut steeply and the spot be brought to the base, the effect will be
precisely the same as if the stone were uniformly coloured, because
all the light emerging from the stone has passed through the spot at
the base and therefore been tinted blue.
The mechanism employed in the fashioning of gem-stones is
simple in character, and comprises merely metal plates or wheels for
slitting, and discs or laps for grinding and polishing the stones, the
former being set vertically and rotated about horizontal spindles, and
the latter set horizontally and rotated about vertical spindles.
Mechanical power is occasionally used for driving both kinds of
apparatus, but generally, especially in slitting and in delicate work,
hand-power is preferred. In the East native lapidaries make use of
vertical wheels (Plate XIII) also for grinding and polishing stones,
which explains why native-cut stones never have truly plane facets;
it will be noticed from the picture that a long bow is used to drive
the spindle.
Owing to the unique hardness of diamond it can be fashioned only
by the aid of its own powder. The process differs therefore materially
from the cutting of the remaining gem-stones, and will be described
separately. Indeed, so different are the two classes of work that
firms seldom habitually undertake both.
 The discovery of the excellent cleavage of diamond enormously
reduced the labour of cutting large stones. A stone containing a bad
flaw may be split to convenient shape in as many minutes as the
days or even weeks required to grind it down. The improvement in
the appliances and the provision of ample mechanical power has
further accelerated the process and reduced the cost. Two years
were occupied in cutting the diamond known as the Pitt or Regent,
whereas in only six months the colossal Cullinan was shaped into
two large and over a hundred smaller stones with far less loss of
material.
Although the brilliant form was derived from the regular
octahedron, it by no means follows that, because diamond can be
cleaved to the latter form, such is the initial step in fashioning the
rough mass. The aim of the lapidary is to cut the largest possible
stone from the given piece of rough, and the finished brilliant usually
bears no relation whatever to the natural octahedron. The cleavage
is utilized only to free the rough of an awkward and useless
excrescence, or of flaws. Although the octahedron is one of the
common forms in which diamond is found, it is rarely regular, and
oftener than not one of the larger faces is made the table.
The old method, which is still in use, for roughly fashioning
diamonds is that known as bruting, from the French word, brutage,
for the process, or as shaping. Two stones of about the same size
are selected, and are firmly attached by means of a hard cement to
the ends of two holders, which are held one in each hand, and
rubbed hard, one against the other, until surfaces of the requisite
size are developed on each stone. During the process the stones are
held over a small box, which catches the precious powder. A fine
sieve at the bottom of the box allows the powder to fall through into
a tray underneath, but holds back anything larger. By means of two
vertical pins placed one on each side of the box the holders are
retained more easily in the desired position, and the work is thrown
mainly on the thumbs. This work continued day after day has a very
disfiguring effect upon the hands despite the thick gloves that are
worn to protect them; the skin of the thumbs grows hard and horny,
and the first and second fingers become swollen and distorted.
When the surfaces have thus been formed, the stone is handed to
the polisher, who works them into the correct shape and afterwards
polishes them, the stone passing backwards and forwards several
times between the cutter and the polisher. The table, four templets,
culet and four pavilions are first formed and polished, so that the
table has a square shape. Next the quoins are developed and
polished, and finally the small facets are polished on, not being
shaped first. In modern practice the process of bruting has been
modified in some cases by the introduction of machinery, and the
facets are ground on, with considerable improvement in the
regularity of their size and disposition, and reduction in the amount
of polishing required. Moreover, to obviate the loss of material
resulting from continued grinding, large stones are first sliced by
means of rapidly-revolving copper wheels charged with diamond
powder.
The laps used for polishing diamonds are made of a particular kind
of soft iron, which is found to surpass any other metal in retaining
the diamond powder. They are rotated at a high rate of speed, which
is about 2000 to 2500 revolutions a minute, and the heat developed
by the friction at this speed is too great for a cement to be used; a
solder or fusible alloy, composed of one part tin to three parts lead,
therefore takes its place. The solder is held in a hollow cup of brass
which is from its shape called a ‘dop,’ an old Dutch word meaning
shell. Its external diameter is ordinarily about 1½ in. (4 cm.), but
larger dops are, of course, used for large stones. A stout copper
stalk is attached to the bottom of the dop; it is visible in the view of
the dop shown at e on Plate VI, and two slabs of solder are seen
lying in front of the dop. The dop containing the solder is placed in
the midst of a non-luminous flame and heated until the solder
softens, when it is removed by means of the small tongs, c, and
placed upright on a stand such as that shown at a. The long tongs,
d, are used for shaping the solder into a cone at the apex of which
the diamond is placed. The solder is worked well over the stone so
that only the part to undergo polishing is exposed. A diamond in
position is shown at f. The top of the stand is saucer-shaped to
catch the stone should it accidentally fall off the dop, and to prevent
pieces of solder falling on the hand. While still hot, the dop with the
diamond in position on the solder is plunged into cold water in order
to cool it. The fact that the stone withstands this drastic treatment is
eloquent testimony to its good thermal conductivity; other gem-
stones would promptly split into fragments. It may be remarked that
so high is the temperature at which diamond burns that it may be
placed in the gas flame without any fear of untoward results. The
dop is now ready for attachment to an arm such as that shown at b;
the stalk of the dop is placed in a groove running across the split
end of the arm, and is gripped tight by means of a screw worked by
the nut which is visible in the picture.

PLATE VI

APPLIANCES USED FOR POLISHING DIAMONDS.

PLATE VII

POLISHING DIAMONDS

Four such arms, each with a dop, are used with the polishing lap
(Plate VII), and each stands on two square legs on the bench. Pins,
p, in pairs are fixed to the bench to prevent the arms being carried
round by the friction; one near the lap holds the arm not far from
the dop, and the other engages in a strong metal tongue, which is
best seen at the end of the arm b on Plate VI. Though the arm,
which is made of iron, is heavy, yet for polishing purposes it is
insufficient, and additional lead weights are laid on the top of it, as
in the case of the arm at the back on Plate VII. The copper stalk is
strong, yet flexible, and can be bent to suit the position of the facet
to be polished; on Plate VII the dops a and b are upright, but the
other two are inclined. In addition to the powder resulting from
bruting, boart, i.e. diamonds useless for cutting, are crushed up to
supply polishing material, and a little olive oil is used as a lubricant.
Owing to the friction so much heat is developed that even the solder
would soften after a time, and therefore, as a precaution, the dop is
from time to time cooled by immersion in water. The stone has
constantly to be re-set, about six being the maximum even of the
tiny facets near the girdle that can be dealt with by varying the
inclination of the dop. As the work approaches completion the stone
is frequently inspected, lest the polishing be carried too far for the
development of the proper amount of ‘fire.’ When finished, the
stones are boiled in sulphuric acid to remove all traces of oil and dirt.
The whole operation is evidently rough and ready in the extreme;
but such amazing skill do the lapidaries acquire, that even the most
careful inspection by eye alone would scarce detect any want of
proper symmetry in a well-cut stone.
The fashioning of coloured stones, as all the gem-stones apart
from diamond are termed in the jewellery trade, is on account of
their inferior hardness a far less tedious operation. They are easily
slit, for which purpose a vertical wheel (Plate VIII) made of soft iron
is used; it is charged with diamond dust and lubricated with oil,
generally paraffin. When slit to the desired size, the stone is
attached to a conveniently shaped holder by means of a cement, the
consistency of which varies with the hardness of the stone. It is set
in the cement in such a way that the plane desired for the table
facet is at right angles to the length of the holder, and the whole of
the upper part or crown is finished before the stone is removed from
the cement. The lower half or base is treated in a similar manner.
Thus in the process of grinding and polishing the stone is only once
re-set; as was stated above, diamond demands very different
treatment. Again, all coloured stones are ground down without any
intermediate operation corresponding to bruting. The holder is
merely held in the hand, but to maintain its position more exactly its
other end, which is pointed, is inserted in one of the holes that are
pierced at intervals in a vertical spindle placed at a convenient
distance from the lap (Plate VIII), which one depending upon the
inclination of the facet to be formed. For hard stones, such as ruby
and sapphire, diamond powder is generally used as the abrasive
agent, while for the softer stones emery, the impure corundum, is
selected; in recent years the artificially prepared carborundum,
silicide of carbon corresponding to the formula CSi, which is harder
than corundum, has come into vogue for grinding purposes, but it is
unfortunately useless for slitting, because it refuses to cling to the
wheel. To efface the scratches left by the abrasive agent and to
impart a brilliant polish to the facets, material of less hardness, such
as putty-powder, pumice, or rouge, is employed; in all cases the
lubricant is water. The grinding laps are made of copper, gun-metal,
or lead; and pewter or wooden laps, the latter sometimes faced with
cloth or leather, are used for polishing. As a general rule, the harder
the stone the greater the speed of the lap.
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