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zircons, topazes, any stone containing brown, red or yellow, and also
as a ring-stone, set deep in gold, for men.
As said before, the diamond, though the hardest of all substances,
is brittle. This is because of its almost perfect cleavage, which makes
it respond readily to a well-directed blow, and sometimes become injured
in a fall. While a skillful cutter with modern tools is almost
sure of the result, at the same time such an important moment must
be a trial to the nerves. Yet so accurate has the work and the mathematics
concerning it become, that the lapidary can foretell to a cer-
tainty the exact shape, size and appearance a rough diamond after
cutting will assume.
When the polishing is to take place, the diamond is placed in a
special box, or "dop," about two inches long, filled with a fused
lead compound in which the gem is imbedded. This weighs about
half a pound, and holds the stone firmly in position. Then the polishing
wheel, generally with a diameter of about ten inches, makes
some 2,400 revolutions a minute, and the work is begun. Often it
must be interrupted to allow the disk to cool, when overheated by
friction. Each time a new facet is cut, the diamond must be removed
from the dop and reset at a new angle. The diamond-cutter
trusts to his eye alone to guide him in this delicate adjustment, except
in the case of very small diamonds, when a lens is necessary. The
skill shown in placing the stone in the heated metal, sometimes with
the bare hand, is said to be remarkable.
The "brilliant," for which cut every one nowadays yearns, resembles
two cones united at their bases, the upper truncated a short
distance from the base, the lower having the apex removed. The
flat top is called the "table"; the rim, where the cones unite, the
"girdle" the small flat ; bottom, the "culet" the entire ; lower portion
from the girdle to the culet the "pavilion" and ; the space between the
girdle and the table the "bizel" or crown. Formerly, one-third of the
depth of the stone was placed above the girdle. It is less now, and
the change is for the better, giving to a stone of less weight a sharper
brilliance.
As a rule, there are thirty-two facets above the girdle and twen-
ty-four below ; in all fifty-six, not counting the table and the culet.
To these are often added eight extra facets, both above and below,
each recut into three or four smaller ones.
It is not difficult to tell if a stone is cut to the best proportion. If
when held both near and far, it seems full of light and life, it has ful-
filled its destiny. Too deep a stone, or one cut irregularly, perhaps to
avoid a flaw, sometimes with the culet slightly to one side, will often
have a dark spot or "well" in the centre. While if cut too shallow,
there will be a glassy appearance, like the eye of a fish, which is
wholly undesirable. This latter quality is apt to be a drawback to
the present very general tendency to cut stones "spread."
The "twentieth-century cut," introduced a few years ago, but
the old double rose with a
falling short of popular approval, is simply
modern twist. It is well enough for a shallow stone, but fails to bring
out the possibilities of the best specimens ; seeming to be all surface,
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