 If you can't bring the best round diamonds to market, why not make them different - by simply adding more facets for example?
Because, as a rule they don't deliver any extra brilliance.
Can we say "dead as a doorknob"?
Maybe not, but let's make no mistake about it - the 58 facet modern round brilliant has a very long and impressive pedigree of development. And, it's not merely some shaggy dog story!
In fact, the most current research shows that extra facets generally create less facet contrast. This shows up as less sharply defined brightness, fire and sparkle! And, these are supposed to be the classic elements that define diamond beauty.
Although many variations and permutations have been explored over the past several centuries, the modern round is the paramount style of cutting. So much so that it's the basis of most other shapes as well; including ovals, pears, marquises and heart shapes.
The reason is simple. It works!
The look of the classic round is extremely desirable and appealing. That's why over 80% of all diamonds sold are cut in this style. That's why it's still the best way to say I love you. That's why it commands and holds the highest value.
Does that mean other styles are no good. Of course not! Tastes differ. There are always those who seek new alternatives.
As luck would have it, computer models have recently made it much easier to experiment with new styles. Cutters need no longer travel blind, running the risk of totally trashing extremely precious raw material. This is a very good thing!
But, it's also new territory. The jury is still out. It's far too soon to know for sure which styles will die on the vine of marketing hype, or get real legs and true staying power in terms of both beauty and value.
 The Hope
The Hope Diamond is one of the most famous diamonds in the world. Guess why? It’s big. It’s blue. It glows bright red under black lights. And, it has history. The Smithsonian Institute just announced that it is celebrating 50 years of owning the Hope. In honor of this milestone, they are sponsoring a contest to select a new design for the setting surrounding the Hope. Well, it’s not really a contest. The Harry Winston Company, namesake of the donor who bequeathed the Hope to the National Gem Collection, was commissioned to submit all three new designs.
The public has only been asked to choose which one they like best. My vote goes to re-cutting the Hope itself!!! Why? Because, it’s high time that this most precious of all gems be seen in its best light. You might think that sounds sacrilegious or perhaps I’m just joking. But, you’d be wrong. I’m serious!!! Like most well-known diamonds the Hope is famous for both fact and fiction. It is the biggest blue diamond around. But, its history is also replete with myth, guile and hype. The Truth... Mystery surrounds the very origins of the Hope. The earliest record of any blue diamond big enough to have produced the Hope was provided by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier - gem dealer, world traveler and raconteur extraordinaire.
His stone, supposedly plucked from a Hindu idol’s eye in India, became known as the “Tavernier Blue”. It weighed approx. 115 carats and was sold to King Louis XIV in 1668. The Sun King took full power of his throne upon the death of Cardinal Mazarin, whose name is widely associated with the first brilliant style diamond cuts.
The King had his royal jewelers re-cut his blue diamond for better brilliancy, yielding a shield shaped diamond weighing approx. 69 carats. His great grandson Louis XV later had the “French Blue” set prominently in his jewel the Order of the Golden Fleece. In late 1792, as Revolutionaries deposed the monarchy, the Royal Storehouse in Paris was ransacked by thieves and the French Blue disappeared forever. However, in 1812 just shortly after the 20 year statute of limitations expired, a large blue diamond was spotted in London. This stone later showed up in the collection of Henry Philip Hope and has been known as the Hope Diamond ever since.
Nobody knows exactly how and when he came to own it, but the Hope Diamond finally saw the light of day weighing a bit over 45 carats. After Henry Hope died, his treasured diamond passed among his family. It was eventually sold by Cartier to the Washington DC-based, hard-rock mining heiress and socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean.
Unlike Mr. Hope who kept his gem collection private and under wraps, McLean wore her diamond everywhere. The media couldn’t resist the temptation to fan the flames of the Hope’s cursed history, especially when Evalyn’s son died in a car wreck, her daughter committed suicide, and her husband died insane.
But, she never lost her love for the diamond. In 1947, Harry Winston purchased the Hope as part of the McLean estate. An unabashed promoter of jewels and gems, Harry trotted the Hope out on many occasions as part of his Court of Jewels, which traveled throughout the US, Canada and Cuba.
Eventually he “gave” it to the Smithsonian, with a deed that bequeathed ownership in 1/10 interest per year until the Institute gained full ownership in 1967.
Can we say “tax-deduction”? The Justice...
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) published a fascinating article about the relationship between the French Blue and the Hope in its Spring 2009 Gems and Gemology.
Juxtaposing a recently uncovered lo-tech lead casting from the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle and hi-tech GemCad and DiamCalc diamond modeling software, they have created a compelling argument that the Hope was in fact re-cut from the French Blue. We can pretty much guess why the French Blue was re-cut: to hide its origin. Even so, we still don’t and probably won’t ever know for sure who did the deed.
But we do know the end result. With no disrespect to the diamond itself, in my humble opinion it’s a hack job.
And, that’s a rotten shame. The Hope deserves to be treated better than that!!! Throughout its long history the Hope has been a reflection of the life and times of its owners and surroundings.
When does it get the chance to shine brightly all on its own? When does it finally get justice? Those same techniques used by the GIA can now be employed by the most skilled diamond cutters of our day to create the ultimate design for the diamond itself.
The Hope could be one of the top performing diamonds in the world – known for its brilliance and fire, not just its color and size. Of course, it will become smaller. But that's OK. Its value will increase tremendously because it will look Brighter, Bolder, Better and more Beautiful than any other Blue diamond on Earth!!!
 If diamonds are the hardest gemstone, then how's it possible for a jeweler to tell me that my diamond now has a dangerous chip?
The truth is that even the very best diamonds can chip or break. They can also be split or cleaved.
How? Why? As hard as they may be, diamonds still have "hard" and "soft" directions determined by their crystal structure. That's the essential reason why diamonds can be sawn and ground away with diamond dust. It's how they can eventually be shaped, cut and polished to perfection. It's tricky, but its what keeps us diamond cutters busy.
Diamonds are indeed the hardest mineral known, however they can be brittle. The Mohs hardness test – which ranks hardness from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond) – is a "scratch test". Diamond can only be scratched by another diamond, it cannot be scratched by any lesser ranked minerals.
The difference between hardness and brittleness could* be illustrated by using a vice and a hammer.
If you put a diamond between the jaws of a vise and were able to apply steady pressure, then you could close the vise completely and when you reopened it the diamond would be safely imbedded in the steel. Its that resistant to pressure and much harder than the steel.
If you placed the diamond on top of the vise and smashed it with a hammer, there is no doubt in my mind that you would be well on your way to creating a nice little pile of diamond dust.
*Caution: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. TRUST ME.
I must also tell you that wherever there is an edge, there's always risk and danger!
The sharper (or more acute) the angle of any edge, regardless of how hard it is, the more susceptible it is to damage. Think about a razor's-edge as opposed to the edge of an axe. Both are steel, but the razor edge is much easier to nick or break. That’s the primary reason cutters put a "girdle" or protective edge around the circumference of polished diamonds. It turns an otherwise acute edge into two blunt angles, thereby reducing the risk of chipping.
It is common practice for diamond setters to place any thin girdle edges, or knife-edges or small chips underneath a prong. The idea is to add protection to a weak spot as well as to hide unsightly blemishes. It's most often a good practice.
The downside is that pre-existing flaws may not be uncovered until much later, and sometimes they'll "grow" bigger because the prong itself – acting as a wedge – has caused further damage.
There is a silver-lining in learning that your diamond has sustained damage. Now is the best time to find out if it should be repaired just to fix the damage, or maybe it's worth fully recutting to better standards which quite possibly will make it more durable and much prettier and more valuable.
 This question seems to be coming up a lot lately. It deserves a complete and thorough answer.There is a revolution taking place in the way that diamonds are being bought and sold. The excitement is spreading from the grassroots to the very heights of our industry - from the consumer to the sales associate clear on up to the Diamond Trading Company.It is called diamond branding. And, for lots of reasons it’s here to stay.
Why do people desire diamonds at all? Diamonds are extremely emotive and highly prized. Every diamond presents an amazing kaleidoscopic view of our world. They are the ultimate talisman. They are an exceptionally beautiful and meaningful way to pledge love and commitment. They are milestones of important life passages. Commemorating the past, present and/or future - diamonds are timeless. Diamonds connect us to one another as well as to the ages. How have diamonds been sold? Diamonds have become dangerously commoditized. Their beauty is most often described in a sterile jargon of rarity factors: the 4C’s - Color, Clarity, Carat and Cost. This information is neither full disclosure nor complete knowledge. As a consumer, how can you know if a particular diamond will look Brighter, Bolder, Bigger, Better and more Beautiful than any other diamonds? Price has become the lowest common denominator. Armed with certificates and price lists, consumers stumble through an exasperating gauntlet of internet sites, TV shopping networks, outlet malls, in-flight magazines, upstairs offices and discount retailers in their search for the biggest bang for the buck. Even in the best cases, flashy big ticket items are typically sold by highly experienced experts and professionals using only arcane lingo. Despite the information overload, the diamond business remains scary and intimidating to modern consumers. How sad is that? Why do people desire brands in general? People buy brands for a host of reasons that primarily make shopping easier and more satisfying. Everyone knows that generic items are worth less. We also know that people spend less if they are uncertain and afraid. Successful brands take away that fear and uncertainty. Brands are held to the highest standards. Brands represent consistency of quality. Brands are continually tested by popular acclaim and approval. Brands build trust. Brands provide a comfort zone. Brands are familiar. Brands bestow bragging rights. Above all, brands offer consumers peace of mind. What are the secrets of diamond branding? Successful diamond brands, like all good businesses, are created the old-fashioned way. They are painstakingly constructed from the ground up. They are born of innovation. They forge ahead one step at a time. They are built by hard work. They are built by focus. They are built by adding real value. They are distinguished by having a unique story to sell. They are fueled with passion. They push people’s desire buttons. They thrive on consistency. They thrive on healthy partnerships. They thrive on raving customers. They are sustained by reinvestment. Who reaps the benefits? The promotion of brands makes the pie larger for all. More brands mean better choices and opportunities. A predatory price-driven diamond market does not guarantee a bright future for anyone in any way. Retailers already have a rich tradition of branding their stores through partnership with leading jewelry and watch brands. Diamond brands provide a strong distribution network that allows more consumer access to actually seeing and handling the merchandise they wish to own. Brand shepherding protects the value of consumers’ investment over time. Specialized sales training, product knowledge and compelling retail theater ensure informational and consistent hands-on presentations, resulting in meaningful and memorable shopping experiences for consumers. Last but not least, diamond brands are good for diamonds! Diamonds come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Inside each stone is inherent beauty. This beauty can only be realized through proper cutting. All diamonds deserve to be handled with the utmost pride, care, reverence and joy. Innovative brands assure us there will always be just the right diamonds to suit anyone's taste.
The "girdle" is our trade's terminology for the outside edge of a diamond. If you've ever wondered whether a fine diamond should have a frosted or polished girdle, I would ask... how romantic is it to focus on a girdle? Doesn't personality count for anything these days?
Just kidding, but I have a slight aversion to even using the term girdle, especially when applied to something as gorgeous as the world's most perfectly cut diamonds. It seems so... impolite.
Anyway, my short answer is that faceted girdles and matte-finished girdles are both perfectly appropriate when finishing diamonds.
Diamond cutting, especially at it's highest level, is still an art form. The parameters are extremely narrow at the upper echelons of the diamond quality pyramid, but the precise application of techniques is left up to the cutter to decide. This ensures that each stone will ultimately display its optimum beauty.
Some cutters prefer faceted girdles better, some don't. Some consumers prefer faceted girdles better, some don't. But the truth is that some diamond crystals are more striking with faceted girdles and some aren't.
My own preference is a smooth girdle. My reason is very simple, it concerns face-up appearance. Smooth girdles actually make a diamond round - faceted girdles make a diamond look round. No matter how many facets you put on the circumference it is still pixel-ated. Either way, the girdle itself should not be visible when the diamond is viewed in the face-up position.
There are other considerations as well.
It can be argued that a frosted girdle imparts "life" to an otherwise cold looking high color diamond. If a diamond has any trace of brown in it, then that matte-finished edge may appear "dirty". And, an off-color diamond with a thick frosted girdle will definitely look darker.
Sometimes a girdle simply must be faceted to prevent slight 'bearding" that may remain despite careful rounding. A downside to a faceted girdle is that it creates a continuous "window" around the diamond that looks like a line. Then again, some customers flat-out prefer the "completely finished" look of a faceted girdle.
From a cutters point of view, I am here to tell you that faceting a girdle is a royal pain in the neck. Think about it, anywhere between 64 and 96 extra itty-bitty little tiny facets have to be cut, polished, aligned and symmetrical... all at no extra cost!!!
What would you do?
And, don't even get me started on culets.
About 10 years ago our company first posted on our website that it "takes 4 times as long to cut Hearts On Fire diamonds than it does to cut ordinary round brilliants". Ever since then, that phrase has become ubiquitous on websites throughout our industry.I'm comforted to know that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", but strangely enough the fact is that almost no one knows how long it takes to cut a typical round diamond.Here's the deal. Although the time varies depending on the individual stone, on average it takes one of our master artisans roughly a full day (8 hours) to finish a one carat Hearts On Fire or Dream diamond by hand - which is approximately 4X as long as it takes to automatically cut most diamonds.
Robotic machines cut most one carat round brilliants in about 2 hours - one hour for the top and one hour for the bottom. A diamond cutter/mechanic typically monitors 16 of these machines during an 8-hour shift. This results in increasing production per worker from 1 to 64 diamonds a day!
The problem is that automatic equipment is - how else can I say this - automatic. Its does things mechanically. Quite literally a robot cannot see, feel, or hear the diamonds it cuts. That's why critical distinctions of proportion, polish, and symmetry aren't possible and the beauty of these diamonds invariably suffers.PS - An easy way to spot a machine-cut diamond is by it's thick girdle edge. The thickness is necessary so that the machine can easily hold the diamond for the entire cutting operation. It also adds extra weight at the girdle, which is no more desirable for the overall beauty of a diamond than it would be for the proportions, performance and beauty of a human being.
 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.
Diamonds are cut to make them look better. It’s as simple as that. However, like I said in my last post, they haven’t always looked as good as they can today.
The owners of rough diamonds have often demanded the seemingly impossible from diamond cutters. “Make my diamond as pretty as it can be, but don’t “lose” any precious weight!” That’s kind of like asking Michelangelo to carve the Pieta without losing his marble(s). Know what I mean?
The trick to success was for diamond cutters to facet according to the contours of the original rough crystal. This approach favored maximum weight retention over maximum beauty. That's why the world's museums are full of odd shaped diamonds of yore - roses, domes, flats, lozenges, parallelograms, you name it.
Using better equipment and more focused on beauty, diamonds these days are cut more uniformly. The “traditional” shapes are mostly round, rectangular, triangular and elliptical. These are sub-divided into variations of brilliant and/or step-cut depending on their faceting style.
The brilliant has evolved in style over the past 300 years or so, from the 30 facet Mazarin Cut in the 1600’s up to the 58 facet super Ideal rounds of today, such as Hearts on Fire. In between, there were the cushion-shaped Old Miners of the 18th Century and the round Old Europeans of the 19th Century. Elliptical shapes such as the oval, the pear and the marquise – named after Louis XV’s mistress Marquise de Pompadour - are also cut in the brilliant style. They are all notable for having stretched-out triangle and kite-shaped facets.
The step-cut looks just as it sounds, like a series of parallel and intersecting stair steps. The classic step cut is the emerald cut - usually rectangular, but in special cases it's square. In the early 1900’s several more steps were added to the square emerald by the famous Asscher family – cutters of the Cullinan Diamond. While extra step cuts can be quite colorful they still don’t sparkle like a round.
In 1970 Basil Watermeyer created the Barion Cut to bring the classic brilliance of the round to the step cut. His innovation was to modify the pavilion (bottom) of the emerald cut to mimic the round brilliant. He published his designs, yet did not patent them. In 1977 Henry Grossbard patented a similar style in New York and called it the Radiant.
The princess cut is a generic square cut from the early 1980's developed to retain the most possible weight from octahedral rough. From this cutter’s perspective, the princess is a throwback to the days of cutting exclusively for weight, not for beauty. It yields approximately 70% weight from the original crystal, compared to around 50% for the best made rounds! It also has noticeably less brightness and colorfulness than most cuts mentioned above.
Searching the web, I recently found a site with at least a hundred names and styles of new diamond design, but as with the Platonic solids there are really only a few basic shapes to begin with and everything else is pretty much derivative.
Until you start Dreaming…
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!
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!
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If you can't bring the best round diamonds to market, why not make them different - by simply adding more facets for example?
