Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/83

 DIAMOND 75 j guild of diamond cutters at Bruges about the I intrusted to him by Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, for the cutting of which he received 3,000 ducats. Diamond cutting was for a long time a monopoly in Holland, and the business is at the present day mostly confined to Amster- dam. The process, which consists of grinding down the surfaces as well as cutting, is slow and tedious, and being done by hand, occupies for a single stone the continual labor of months. The Pitt diamond required two years for the completion of the process. Two diamonds are employed, each cemented into the end of a stick or handle. The stones are then rubbed together with a strong pressure, being held over a metal box having a double bottom, the upper one perforated with small holes, through which diamond dust falls. This is afterward carefully collected, mixed with vegetable oil, and used for polishing the gem upon a revolv- ing cast-iron disk. When a large piece is to be removed from the stone, it is sometimes cut off by means of a steel wire covered with dia- mond powder, and sometimes by the use of a chisel and hammer, though in this way there is danger of destroying the stone. The work- men should understand perfectly the position of the cleavage planes, as it is only upon them that pieces can be removed by the chisel. The forms usually adopted in cutting the diamond are the brilliant, the rose, and the table. The first shows the gem to the best advantage. It is composed of a principal face called the table, surrounded by a number of facets which are cut upon that part of the stone which shows above the setting, and which is called the bezil. The greatest circumference forms the girdle, and below this is the pavilion, which should have a depth equal to one half the diameter of the gem at the girdle. The pavilion is termi- nated by a small facet, called the culet, which may be either square or octagonal. As the brilliant is the most economical of material, and shows the stone most advantageously, it is usually preferred to any other. The rose, which is very brilliant, is flat below and cut into facets entirely over the upper surface. The table is least beautiful, and is used mostly in India fpr thin stones with a large surface, which are ornamented by being cut into facets at the edges. Among the most celebrated diamonds known, that obtained by Mr. Pitt, governor of Madras, is perhaps one of the finest and most perfect. It is known as the regent. Its weight before cutting was 410 carats, and by this pro- cess, which occupied two years, it was reduced to 136 carats, and was purchased by the re- gent duke of Orleans in 1718 for $675,000. Its present value is estimated at $1,000,000. It was placed by Napoleon in the hilt of the sword of state, and was captured by the Prus- sians at Waterloo. A splendid diamond found in Brazil some years ago, and carried to France, is called the " Star of the South." It weighs in its rough state 254|- carats. Its general form is a rhomboidal dodecahedron, and upon its faces are impressions which appear to have been made by other diamonds, so that the whole was probably a group of diamond crys- tals. The famous diamond in possession of the king of Portugal is also from Brazil. If genu- ine, of which there is some doubt, its value, according to the rule of computation, should be $28,000,000, weighing as it does in the rough 1,680 grains. The famous Koh-i-noor or " Mountain of Light " is now in possession of the queen of England. This stone, interesting alike for its historical associations and for its intrinsic beauty, was, according to Indian tra- dition, obtained before the Christian era from one of the mines of Golconda. From the rajah of Oojein, who seems to have possessed it at the beginning of the Christian era, it passed to successive sovereigns of central India, and in the early part of the 14th century was added to the treasures of Delhi by the Patan monarch Aladdin. It remained in possession of the ru- ling families of the empire until the irruption of the Persian conqueror Nadir Shah, who saw it glittering in the turban of the vanquished Mo- hammed Shah, and proposing an exchange of head dress as a mark of friendship, bore it away with him, and gave it the name by which it is still known. After the assassination of Nadir it passed through the hands of Ahmed Shah of Cabool to Shah Shujah, who paid it as the price of his liberty to his conqueror Runjeet Singh, the "lion of the Punjaub," in 1813. On the annexation of the Punjaub to the East India company's territory in 1849, it was stipulated that the Koh-i-noor should be surrendered to the queen of England, to whom it was accord- ingly delivered by the company, July 3, 1850. At this period its weight was 186 carats. It was exhibited at the crystal palace in London in 1851, where it attracted universal attention; but its display of colors was inferior to that of its glass model, and it was necessary to sur- round it with a number of vivid lights to de- velop its colored refractions. An examination was made by scientific gentlemen, among them Sir David Brewster, Avith reference to the pro- priety of recutting the gem. After obtaining the opinions of skilful cutters at Amsterdam, it was decided that the attempt should be made, and it was given in charge of Mr. Coster of that city, who afterward cut the Star of the South. The diamond so long in possession of the sultan of Matan, of the island of Borneo, is remarkable for its size and purity. It weighs 367 carats, and should be worth at least $3,500,000. It is shaped like an egg with an indented hollow in the smaller end. It was discovered at Landak. The Orloff diamond, purchased for the empress Catharine IL of Russia, is about the size of a pigeon's egg, and weighs 195 carats. It is said to have formed the eye of a famous idol in a temple of Brahma at Pondicherry. A French deserter robbed the pagoda of this valuable stone. After passing through the hands of various purchasers, it came into the possession
 * year 1470. Three large rough stones were