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Diamonds are a girl’s best friend according to Marilyn Monroe, and most people will tend
to agree.
Diamonds are universally valued.
The king of gemstones, diamonds are dazzling, durable, and desirable.
The word diamond comes from the Greek word for invincible, and there’s no doubting
the durability of these rocks.
These precious stones have been sought out by humans and hoarded for as long as we can
remember.
But how does a lump of carbon over billions of years form into what we call a diamond,
the hardest natural material known to man?
And how do we cut and shape the rock into a beautiful piece of jewelry?
Let’s take a look at the diamond shaping process in today’s episode of the Infographics
Show, How do you cut a diamond?
Diamonds are rocks, and they come from the ground much like other stones you might find
in your backyard.
Diamonds are a type of precious gemstone with a high aesthetic value.
They are the hardest material naturally formed on the earth, and they are known for their
beauty, strength, and durability.
Diamonds form deep within the Earth’s crust and are created by pressure and heat in the
range of 2,012 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 degrees Celsius).
If the environment is too hot or too cold, the diamond won’t form.
They begin life as pure carbon around 90 miles (144.8 km) beneath the ground, and most are
over a billion years old by the time they surface.
Some stones are over 3 billion years old, which is not that much younger than the Earth
itself.
But how does that rough mined diamond find its way onto a necklace, a ring, or a brooch?
How are diamonds cut?
Well, first of all, a diamond is usually broken or sawn rather than cut.
Diamond is hard, but it is more brittle than say steel.
Like wood, diamond has grain.
Force is applied in the weakest area, and it fractures.
One way to cut a diamond is to use a diamond wheel.
Glass and ceramics are cut in a similar way.
A sharp steel wheel applies great pressure.
This diamond wheel or diamond saw is a round cutting instrument.
Diamond cutting tools use diamond edges on the business end to cut the diamond.
So diamonds cut diamonds.
There are a number of processes used in cutting a diamond that we will take a look at today.
Diamonds are the hardest material known to man, so the only material that can cut a diamond
is another diamond or a laser.
Planning.
One of the first steps is to analyze the rough stone to see what cut will give the cutter
the most valuable end product.
If the stone is pear-shaped, the cutter will probably attempt a pear cut.
If the rock lends itself to a brilliant cut, the cutter will attempt a rounded shape.
The cutter needs to understand what to cut, how to cut, and, most importantly, where to
cut to achieve the best end product.
Cleaving.
This technique cuts the rough diamond down to a manageable shape and size.
The cutter must cleave along the weakest point known as the tetrahedral plane.
A cement or wax mold holds the diamond in place as the cutter makes a sharp cut along
the weakest groove.
The cutter then puts a steel blade in the groove and strikes it firmly, cutting the
rough rock into two pieces.
Once in a while, a tetrahedral plane does not appear to be present.
In this case, cleaving is not an option, so the cutter must consider sawing.
The diamond-tipped phosphor-bronze saw rotates at 15,000 rpm.
Lasers can be used to saw the diamond, but the process takes a lot longer, sometimes
up to hours longer.
During the process, the cutter decides which part of the diamond will become the flat top
(or table) of the stone and the girdle (the outside rim), and then the cutting begins.
Bruiting.
When the cutter shapes the stones by hand, this process is known as bruiting.
To do this, the cutter employs a small instrument with a cement-filled bowl at the tip to hold
the rock.
The diamond is submerged with just one corner exposed.
With one of the sticks in each hand, the cutter rubs the exposed diamond parts against one
another to bruit them.
Both rocks are placed in a lathe and rubbed against one another.
This bruiting process can take hours.
Polishing.
Finally, the diamond needs to be finished.
The cutter places the diamond onto a rotating polishing when layered with an abrasive diamond
powder that polishes the rock as it rubs up against the wheel to achieve a polished finish.
Inspecting.
To determine the value of the diamond, the cutter needs to evaluate his work and decide
how much the end product is worth.
Weight, size, and purity all come into the valuation equation.
Depending on the shape and the size of the rough diamond rock, much is wasted.
Large blocks of carbon that don’t convert to diamond are broken away.
Sometimes as much as 80% of a rough diamond is wasted in the cutting process.
Normally more than 50% isn’t used.
The high level of workmanship and the complicated cutting process are two of the reasons why
diamonds don’t come cheap.
The end goal is to create or form a beautifully polished stone, and with transparent gemstones
such as diamond two factors are at play.
These two factors are fire and brilliance.
Fire is the stone’s ability to fracture light into prisms or rainbows.
The way that light reflects from the stone adds worth to its value.
Brilliance is assessed by the volume of white light reflected back from the diamond.
Bad diamond cutting leads to poor fire and brilliance.
Diamond cutters attempt to preserve as much of the usable stone as possible, as larger
stones are more desirable than small rocks.
Should the cutter be faced with a massive stone like the Star of Africa that weighs
3,107 carats (about 1.4 lbs.), the cutter will have to cut the stone down into smaller
rocks.
Grooves are carved along cleavage planes where the stone is the most weak.
There are several types of diamond cuts, and these are the most popular:
Brilliant cut.
The classic cut used for diamonds is the brilliant cut.
The brilliant cut brings out the fire in the gemstone through multiple facets in the rock.
This shape resembles a cone and maximizes light returning through the top of the diamond.
The round brilliant cut is favored when the crystal is an octahedron shape.
Pear cut.
The diamond is cut into the shape of a pear.
Marquise cut.
This is a pointed style cut.
Diamonds naturally grow in the form of octahedral crystals, so the rocks lend themselves well
to this cut.
An added bonus is that it minimizes the loss of stone.
Fancy Cut.
Strangely shaped stones might lend themselves to a fancy cut.
The choice of a fancy cut is influenced by fashion.
Most fancy cuts can be grouped into four different types: modified brilliant cuts, step cuts,
mixed cuts, and rose cuts.
And now that you know how diamonds are cut, how about learning about how to incorporate
them into your own jewelry?
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In just 15 minutes, you will learn how to make Pearl Drop Chain Earrings with just basic
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So there we have the diamond cutting process in a nutshell.
What’s the biggest diamond you’ve ever seen?
Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
Also, be sure to watch our other video called Ways pickpockets steal your money.
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe, and as
ever, see you next time!