DIAMOND CUTTING:

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9205, 6 October 1891, Page 4

DIAMOND CUTTING:

The rough stone Is, in tho first instance, put into the hands of the "splitter." 1t.. 1 must be noted that three operation^ nui et '?, ' gone through before the etone is fit lv l.c put into the hands of the manufacturing jeweller: — (1) splitting, (2) cutting, (3)',! polishing. Hard as the diamond -is, tne . stone is capable of cleavage in certain direo- , tions, and thns on enormous amount of .,' labour in cutting 19 saved. An exceptionally skilled operative alone is permitted to i do this work. He must be able to see at once every flaw ami imperfection in the stone, and conduct his work in suoh wise 'sa to get rid of them as> far as possible, and thuß to prepare the rough Btone .■ for the cutter. ' As the splitting is, ' so to speak, the more intellectual work, so is tbe.cuttejr'a 1 by far the most laborious. The operation jia done mainly by hand, and requires a great deal of musonlar foroe ; so muoh so, that the workmen are obliged to wear' very stiff fingered gloves with the tips out off in order to give sufficient power and rigidity to th«ir digits. The grindingprocess is accomplished by rubbing one stone against another, and.is very tedious work. Thus, the cutting ol the "Regent" diamond cost £2,000. Lastly comes tho polishing. This i&an exceedingly delicate operation. It is accomplished upon steel disos whioh rovolva at the rate of about 2,000 turpa a minute, and the stone is kept constantly wet with a mixture of diamond dust and olive oil. It re* quires yean of practice before a man; becomes a proficient in the matter of polishing QiKuonHsr^ffcwbery Etoute , Magazine* :• <