A diamond is born - Diamantschleiferei Michael Bonke

The art of diamond polishingDiamond polishing is not an easy profession. The first requirement is what the experts call a“light hand”. Within the first few weeks itself, we get to know which of our training candidateshas a light hand and which of them has a heavy hand.A light hand implies fine motor skills together with a certain sensibility.However, physical requirements such as skills and sharp sight are by far not the only things thatmake a good polisher. Of the 11 or 12 candidates, who fulfil the conditions of admission andactually start working with us, only one stays back by the end of six months. A good polisherrequires for e.g. certain ability for good geometrical judgement. When cutting a facet, he/shemust be able to recognise, whether an angle is correct or whether it is too flat or too steep. Whenthe target is achieved while cutting the facet of a diamond, i.e. when it is large enough, this targetmust be point-shaped. After reaching its target, if a facet runs into the neighbouring facets anddoes not look pointed but like a line, it is mercilessly corrected when we give it the perfect cut.And this often means that the entire crown or pavilion must be cut again.