FAMOUS JEWELS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6704, 30 December 1908, Page 8

FAMOUS JEWELS

THE LARGEST DIAMOND IN THE WORLD. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LON DON, November J 3. In tho course of a few days tho great CuUinan diamond, eiv’ded, cut, and polished, v. ill hr; presented to King Edward in the form of a scries of brilliants. Tho Cullinan diamond in its (•riginal ;a.aio was far -and away iho lar,;(v;L. cn r kjior n, weighing over a {otind and three-uuaitars avoirdupois; and even when reduced L'y cutting, the stones into winch it has boon split indium two wliicli arc much bigger than any other known diamond.

The scory of the cutting and polishing of tho CulUann stone is told at length in ‘‘Tim Time*,” and very inteiesiing reading it makes. The big diamond was cutru&tod to Messrs .Joseph Afl,scher and Co., of Amsterdam, in .fauna. y last, and convoyed by three members of tho firm from London to tlreir factory in tho Tol-traafi, Amsterdam. Tho wills of the strong room in which they lodged tho precious stone are of .sled and concrete two feet thick, and the huge outer door is secured by a lock working witli a combination of numbers which is knorn only to tho heads of tlo firm. Inside there is a steel door eight inches thick with nine concealed Jo :ks, and inside that again a couple of steel coffers, in one of which tho Cullman diamond has reposed every night for tho last nine months. Tho first operation undertaken on the ''stone (says “The Times”) was to' divide it into two pieces. The work was begun on February 6th, and on tho afternoon of tho 10th, the actual splitting was performed by Mr Joseph Asschcr, who is recognised as tho most skilful splitter in tho Asscher firm. Tho diamond was again held in cement at tho end of a strong wooden stick, which was fixed vertically, and the operator held tho knife—a wedge-shaped piece of steel resembling a toilet comb in its general form and sizo—in tho groove with his left hand, while in his right ho grasped a hammer consisting of a short heavy steel rod. At tho first blow tho knife broke and tho diamond remained unaffected—it must be realised that the blow employed is no gen tle tap, but is delivered with all the force a strong man can put forth—but at tho second, to tho relief of all present, it was successfully severed into two parts, .weighing respectively 1977£ carats and 10401 carats, with a. fow carats of splinters.

A few' days later, on February 14th, tho task of dividing the larger of the two pieces was taken in hand. Tho next process was to grind and polish the various portions into which the stone had been divided, and this work was begun on March 2nd, • on tho largest piece remaining after tlio several splittings. Tho w'ork was in tho hands of Air Henri Koc, a polisher of exceptional ability, who has been with Messrs Aascher for twenty years, and who, it is interesting to know, is a Londoner by birth, though his parents were Dutch. Owing to the size of the stones special appliances had to bo provided. Special precautions were also taken to guard, them from actual damage. the floor of the room, for instance, being thick!'* carpeted with felt to diminish the risk of their being chipped should they be dropped. Tho process of polishing is a very slow one, owing to the hardness of a diamond. Tlnre aro ordinarily fiftyeight facets on a bril’iant—thirty-two above tho girdlo ard twenty-four below it. besides tho table and the collet, and each of these has to be ground (Separately. But even that docs not exhaust tho number of grindings required, since in tho first instance eight facets are formed above and eight below the girdle, and these are subsequently subdivided until tho proper number is obtained. Besides being ground, tlio facets havo to b© polished.

In the record time of nino months tho Oullinun has been transformed into nine gorgeous brilliants, two of which aro by far tho largest in existence.