Diamonds from another planet...

This is one of the coolest pictures I've found of a diamond's crystal lattice. Maybe its not that accurate, but it sure is pretty and I thought it might grab your attention.

It's tiring to always be focused on finished gems. So, let's look at some other diamond curiosities.

You probably already know something about how diamonds are formed. As the story goes, they are formed deep under the crust of the Earth where atoms of carbon grow upon one another in a molten slurry under intense heat and pressure.

They are then blasted to the surface in volcanic pipes. It is convenient that these super-hard crystals arrive in super-soft kimberlite. Diamond mines may be remote, but once found processing the ore is a relative cinch. Even rain and rivers can wash diamonds free.

But, wait there's more. Believe it or not some diamonds come from outer space. In fact, a recent story about "shock synthesized hexagonal nanodiamonds" from a meteorite strike in California grabbed my attention. Thankfully the hit was over 12,900 years ago!

These little guys offer the hypothetical cause for a massive die-off on a continental level of such megafauna as the Channel Island pygmy mammoths. Wow! To think I never even knew they were here first.

And then there are nanodiamonds from inner space, too. I'm talking about tiny micro diamonds that are synthesized in laboratories. Usually polycrystalline - they're not like the single crystal in our picture. They are made in films, i.e. thin coatings not the cinema.

Scientists are having a field day dreaming up uses for these teeny suckers. At Melbourne University they're thinking that carbon-based nanodiamonds may lead to the actual development of quantum computers, using qubits rather than plain old-fashioned bits to store data. Why am I thinking diamond covered q-tips?

Oh yeah, there are also nanodiamond tips. Apparently atomic force microscopes use dip-pen lithography to print advanced circuitry and DNA sequencing. If that don't just beat all, those pens can break down quickly. But not if they are coated in nanodiamonds.

Will miracles never cease? Maybe not. Just today, yet again comes an article - with some precocious comments too - teasing us with the discovery of something even harder than diamonds.

And, I thought that reward already went to Calculus. The theory is that some kind of boron molecule can do the trick. It all sounds confusing and sketchy to me.

I say, "Bring it on". Us diamond cutters could use a break, and some diversion too. Or so it would seem.

In Memoriam: A Master

In mid-July Leonard Ludel passed away. At 95 years young, he was still my mentor. Leonard was the founder of the American School of Diamond Cutting.

He taught that you must never call yourself a Master Diamond Cutter. This is an honorific bestowed on you by others. Well, I’m here to tell you that Lenny was a Master.

The main reason for his mastery was that Lenny practiced what he preached. Lenny preached that one person can make a big difference and that your actions speak louder than words. He had no fear or use for a status quo that thwarted progress, saying “I have always been a humanist and always will be."

Lenny was a 3rd generation diamond cutter who believed that the art of diamond cutting would die out if limited only to those with family history in the industry. He actively sought to share his arcane knowledge - to bring new life blood and vitality into the mix. For this faux pas he was ostracized by the industry at first, but in the end his contributions proved to be significant.

Founding the American School of Diamond Cutting was just the beginning. Lenny had a genuine soft spot for underdogs; our classroom overflowed with diversity – American’s of all sorts – Native, Japanese, Mexican, Portuguese, Dutch, African, Irish, Catholic, Jew, Protestant, atheist, blonde, brunette, redhead, high-school aged, college grads, pacifists and Vietnam Vets.

In my case, Lenny said he picked me as an apprentice because of my acumen in straight pool – 5th in the Big Ten (1st runner-up in the loser’s bracket). Forget about the academic stuff! Normally considered the hallmark of a misspent youth, my ability to bank a shot cross-side or straight-back, apparently convinced him I had the “hand-eye coordination” and “sense of geometry” to become a decent diamond cutter. I gotta tell you that was one interesting interview.

But only part of his enduring legacy was the teaching of old-fashioned, hands-on, bare-knuckled, nose-to-the-grindstone craftsmanship to outsiders like me. He self-published the first book in America to spill the trade secrets of diamond cutting to the general public, How To Cut A Diamond: A Diamond Cutters Handbook (1985).

Lenny's actions continued to help and inspire others even after his official career ended (Record Courier). And, to this day many of his students carry his passion forward by pioneering, mastering and teaching new methods of cutting, grading, and selling fine diamonds.

Rest in Peace Lenny, you've earned it. We'll do our best to make the world more copacetic in your absence.

Real Values...

Rule #3 - If you want to buy a diamond you should apply the following two rules.

Rule #1 - To appreciate the value of diamonds, you have to actually look at them.
Rule #2 - To understand the full value of a diamond, you have to know what to look for.

I've devoted my professional life to adding-value to that precious and uniquely mysterious gemstone called diamond - first as a cutter and teacher, then as a brander of superlative craftsmanship and performance.

It literally breaks my heart whenever I think that short-term greed might seriously undermine the value of the collective efforts of an entire trade.

On-line sellers are clearly not adding-value to diamonds! The prevailing “internet model" of selling diamonds is far from being new; it's probably one of the oldest and simplest forms of business behavior we know. Its called taking a free ride.

After the creators, innovators, entrepreneurs and other honest hard-working folks have made a product and brought it to market; they are very often blind-sided by disingenuous free-loaders who proudly proclaim an ability to do the "same thing cheaper".

How hard is that? Especially after a large supporting cast has already done the real job of creating desire: supplying, educating, romancing, selling and satisfying the customer. I finally have to call it like I see it… BS!

The Internet rewards unfair competition. Caveat emptor, "similar to" is not the "same as"!! Most on-line diamond sellers do not research, produce, or build new standards, products, or markets.

Diggers literally sweat diamonds out of the ground. Cutters and manufacturers develop the newest technologies and practices. Jewelers maintain necessary inventories, showrooms and professional staff to properly show and sell diamonds to an otherwise under-served public. The major gemological labs, supported by independent retailers and their customers, verify the highest standards of quality.

On-line sellers that do not maintain "bricks and mortar" businesses are merely padding their pockets by riding the coat tails of all the "middlemen" listed above and then cutting them out of the equation.

If you ask me, the cyber-bandits are syphoning off an unearned portion of the market’s wealth. They don’t own the diamonds they list for sale, nor do they share other typical costs of business such as bearing an equal burden of taxation.

The bottom-line is that every diamond they discount directly devalues all existing and future diamonds.

No one benefits but them.

We are all in the diamond business together... diggers, cutters, jewelers and consumers alike. That's right. It's precisely why every time the value of diamonds is threatened it's a disservice to all of us. We are collectively robbed of the fruits of our labors and investments. Quite simply, when the price of diamonds goes down, everyone who already owns one suffers and those who may wish to find more diamonds or create prettier diamonds are further discouraged.

I firmly believe that diamonds are still too cheap! Think about it, those controversial "blood diamonds" might never have emerged if revenues from legitimate trade in diamonds were large enough to support adequate and sustainable jobs, governance and services in the world's diamond-producing countries.

Understanding value. The pricing of diamonds has long been commoditized, based on the 4C's - color, clarity, carat weight and cost. These are all the factors that tell you the features of what a diamond is. And that’s the information that goes on most certificates.

But, now we know it’s all about what a diamond does. The latest buzzword is "performance". That's the benefit of exceptional cutting. Think about it this way – no horse trader would ever buy a thoroughbred sight unseen and then only by the pound! No way. He’d want a horse that he can see winning the race!

The only reason to cut a diamond at all is to make it look more beautiful!!! If that weren't so, we'd all just buy our diamonds in the rough because that would be the biggest bang for our buck. Wouldn't it?

Its now perfectly well understood that the best cut diamonds make the color look better, the clarity look better, and the size even look bigger because they shine from edge-to-edge with the most brightness and fire.

How can anyone properly judge a diamond's value without seeing it first as well as comparing it - up close and personal - to others?

What is diamond cutting?

It’s well known that it takes a diamond to cut another diamond, because diamond is the hardest substance in our world. That is the scientific truth. But, there’s a bit more to it than that.

Generally speaking we think that to cut is to stab, slash, slice or snip. The fact is that diamonds are cut – or as my friend Gabi Tolkowsky would say, fashioned – more like splitting, sawing, lathing, sanding and polishing wood.

Most rough diamond crystals are first split into two “workable” pieces. Traditionally, this was done with a hammer and blade in a process called cleaving. Cleaving is very much like splitting wood along its grain. Diamond can be split along one of its “grains” – parallel to the octahedral face – by placing a blade in a pre-carved notch – called a kerf – and striking it as you would a wedge. Today, however, diamonds are typically sawn in two along a different "grain" - parallel to a cube face - with either a phosphor-bronze diamond-dust encrusted blade or with a pulsing laser beam.

Next, the diamond is shaped. This form of cutting is called bruting, because it is forced against all grains. This is done with the gem diamond centered on an eccentric-chucked lathe. The diamond is then turned round by rubbing it against another diamond-topped cutting tool. Elliptical shapes like oval, pear and marquise are formed the same way by tapping the lathe off-center. Any straight-edged diamond - like emerald cut, square cut, and/or princess - is always shaped on a flat grinding wheel that is charged with diamond dust.

You know the old saying "nose to the grindstone"? Well, where do you think that came from? The final stage of diamond cutting is faceting. All facets on a diamond are ground and polished on a flat cast iron lap or wheel that is shaped like a record turntable and coated with super-fine diamond dust. Each facet is cut by placing it at the correct angle against the wheel with one of the diamond’s twelve grains - dodecahedral faces - held perpendicular to the spinning direction of the wheel. One and only one of these 12 grains will cut well for each facet position.

Having to know the exact location of each grain in a diamond is what separates a diamond cutter from all other stone cutters. Diamond will cut anything else, like butter, but it will only cut another diamond in very particular directions.

Just as with other industries there are varying levels of skill and craftsmanship employed in diamond cutting. The highest degree of skill is in the total hand-crafting and finishing of the stone by a master cutter. The cutter literally feels, sees and judges how well every single facet is cutting. This is cutting the "old-fashioned" way. It definitely yields the most beautiful results. If you ask me, it’s the way all diamonds should be cut.

Of course, there is also an assembly-line method of production which speeds things up and increases the volume of diamonds that can be processed worldwide. This style of cutting has semi-skilled cutters performing single operations over and over again at a high rate of speed while obviously compromising critical aspects of accuracy. There is also a fully automatic method of computerized cutting which is most often used for smaller diamonds. Believe it or not, this characteristically achieves the least consistent and reliable results, mainly because the computer never physically "sees" the work. The entire process is mechanical.

As you might have guessed by now, only the simplest and earliest form of diamond cleaving is actually possible in the back seat of a Mercury. Yet this is the image that most people conjure up when they visualize the diamond cutting process. Such is the power of successful TV advertising from almost 40 years ago!

A Cutter's View

There are lots of places that you can find information about my favorite subject - Diamonds.

Literally mountains of information, everything from the common Big 4C's - color, clarity, carat weight and cost; to that arcane Little Tiny C - the culet, is readily available on-line. But, let's face it... information isn't knowledge.

It seems to me that lots of information is actually the same old stuff being tweaked and rehashed. That's not what I want to do. My vision is focused on helping folks see through the clutter. I'm a firm believer in point of view. As Gil Scott-Heron used to say... "if you don't stand for something, you'll go for anything."

That doesn't mean I don't want to hear from you, and it doesn't mean that I won't post your comments, and it doesn't mean that I won't respond. Because I will.

It means that after 35 years in the diamond trade - after learning something new about these wonderful gems almost every single day - I want to share some of my professional thoughts and personal opinions with a wider audience.

Field notes from a Diamond Geezer!