ENGRAVING ON DIAMONDS.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3101, 22 September 1899, Page 6

ENGRAVING ON DIAMONDS.

Diamonds can now be engraved in a very artistic munner. The development of thn diamond rutting art brings iuto fcxißtenet a in w claws of jewellery, for which a con6i<U rable demand is expected. It was long believed that the diam-nd could not be engraved with safety or Shti'-f.-ctory results. A few stones roughly engmved wi re found in India, and a diamond was exis i lutes 1 ;st at the Paiis imposition, in 1878, on which a porlrait of the Kiag of Holland whs scratched. But this work waa very impeifecl., and the stom 8 were rather depotished than on;;rnveil. Some of the finest examples of engravirg on diamonds are the work of M. Bordinet, a Paris jeweller. Oue of the scarf-pins represent* a yabHgh;tn, of which the blade is a slender diamond ; ihe handle is a ruby. Another example* is a. large circular stone on which a pans) ,with its foliage, is engraved. In another case, the design is a knife, made with two diamonds. An elaborate piece of work is a bicyclp, of which the wheels are two circular diamond*-. The spokes are representt d by lines en^iavid on the diamonds. A small hole is pierced nt each axle. Another diamond is carved like a fish. A handsome brooch is a scarabaeus, surrounde.l by sapphires and brilliants. I'he most remarkable is a ring made of one diamond, the interior surface being poiishrd and the exterior eleu.r-.tely engraved. It is said that there in nothing similar to this in existence. Other samples are brooches representing flies, of which the wings are thin, engmved diamonds; two diamonds engraved with armorial bearings, the imperial arms of Russia being used in one instance on shirt and cuff button*. Formerly it was only possible to produce the polish on fiat surfaces, bat M. Burdinct has b<j«n able to do this ou concave portions, as on the body and the interior of the ring, His tools produce not only straight, lines, as in the wheels, the racquet and the flies' wings, but a free modelling, as in the pansy, the Russian arms, and the scar&baeus. He has invented these tools himself, and intends that his son alone shall have the use of them. They are exceedingly delicate and difficult to handle. He spent 25 years bringing them to perfection. Xt is but a few years since it was first possible to pierce holes in diamonds. This feat made possible the placing of diamonds on a string, alternating with pearls. The work is now ds no generally in diamond-cutting establishments.