Engagement Rings Birth of a Diamond Gem
Thursday, May 10th, 2012Rings are some of the finest jewelleries to give to a loved one for a special moment such as a birthday, an anniversary, a wedding proposal, or Valentines. Simple and new designer engagement rings, diamond stud earrings, jewelled necklaces, and bracelets are a time honored favourite in addition to their more expensive counterparts.
Seeing the prized diamond, you might wonder how amazing nature is to have the capability to form the stones; extremely detailed shape. However, in truth, raw diamonds look like rough crystals or shapeless blogs. The intricate forms of the gemstones that appeal to the buyer are not naturally made. To make diamonds lovely gems, a set of unique techniques in cutting and polishing the stones are needed.
1. Cleaving
This is the initial step in bringing out the gem out of a diamond rock. The cutter first locates the weakest part of the diamond, normally along the rock’s tetrahedral plane. He then makes a wax or cement mold to hold the diamond in place. After securing the rock, he then cuts a sharp groove along the plane with either a laser or a special saw. He wedges a sharp, steel blade along the groove and forcefully strikes it. The force of the blow splits the rock in two.
2. Sawing
Sometimes, the diamond rock does not exhibit any plane of weakness, rendering the process of cleaving virtually undoable. In this case, the diamond rock needs to be laboriously sliced up with a phosphor-bronze blade that rotates at 15,000 rounds per minute. As an alternative, powerful cutting lasers are also utilized to saw and slice the extremely dense and hard material. Before cutting, the cutter selects which section of the diamond becomes the table and which section is the girdle. He proceeds with the cutting after choosing out these sections.
3. Bruiting
After the diamond is cleaved or sawed, it is time to give it its shape. The cutter utilizes small stick-like instruments, similar to small chisels, which are impregnated with diamonds. That’s right, he uses diamonds to cut diamonds. First, he holds the diamond rock in place by putting it in a small bowl filled with cement. The rock is carefully placed in the cement in such a way that only one corner is exposed. Then the cutter expertly chips or whittles the rock with his tools to the right shape. In mechanical bruiting in which a machine is utilized to give the diamond rock its characteristic shape, the diamond is stabilized in a lathe. Another diamond is rubbed against the rock to create the basic shape of the gem.
4. Polishing
The last stage of turning a rough diamond into a gem is polishing. This is where the cutter has to be really careful so he can create facets of the right size and arrangement. The cutter initially holds the bruited piece on an arm above a rotating polishing wheel. The surface of the wheel is coated with an abrasive diamond powder. As the wheel is switched on, he touches the surface of the bruited rock on the wheel to create the facets and to fine-shape the diamond. The diamond powder on the rock also smooths out the diamond as it is pressed against the wheel.
Finally, the jewel is rinsed in clean water and subjected to a treatment of transparent coating to protect its surface from dust, oil, and grime. Without this coating, the diamond rapidly becomes less lustrous.
The diamond on diamond stud earrings – click here to see a great collection at Serendipity Diamonds, rings, and other jewellery came a very long way from its raw form.

