A Loose Diamonds Travel-Rough to Polish

Mining: Over 250 tons of ore need to be mined to yield a one-carat rough diamond. On the other hand, only about 20 percent of all rough diamonds are appropriate for use as gems. Given that diamond is the hardest material known to man, the rest of the diamonds are used for industrial purposes, such as cutting, boring and grinding. Loose Diamonds are mined in the deepest area of Kimberlite Magma pipes up to 75 miles deep called "blue rock" or "blue ground", as well as in the shallower area 50 to 60 feet beneath the earth's surface called "yellow ground." At present, more than 90 percent of the world's diamond supply is mined in South Africa. However, diamonds are also mined in Australia, South America, Russia and Canada.

Marking, which is the first step in the diamond making procedure, is done after each rough diamond is analyzed in order to make a decision how it should be cut to yield the greatest value. Here, the shape of the rough diamond, and the number and location of impurities and imperfections are believed. Taking these factors into account, the planner decides how the diamond should be cut and "marks" it to point out where the stone should be cleaved or sawed.

Cleaving: subsequent to a diamond is marked, depending on the particular stone, it is sent to a cleaver or a sawyer. When the stone is very large and precious, cleaving it is a critical process, since a mistake by the planner or the cleaver can shatter the diamond. The cleaver's job is to cut the diamond into two pieces, in order to fetch out the best angles and set up what the final cut will be. Sawing: Sawing is consummate by using a blade that is paper-thin, turns at 4,000 rpm, and is made of phosphor bronze. Based on the size of the diamond, each diamond is clamped resting next to the rotating blade for several hours. Since diamonds are the hardest substance on earth, they can only be cut by another diamond, and that is why diamond dust is used, as well as the real diamond dust generated by the crystal being cut.

Cutting: Girdling or rounding are terms that come into participating when cutting a round stone. Each diamond is placed into a lathe, with a second diamond held next to it, too slowly round it into a cone shape. After that the stone goes to the blocker, who places the first 18 main facets on a brilliant-cut loose diamond, after which it goes to the brillianteer, who must place the staying 40 facets. The above process, of cutting of 58 facets enforces to Round Brilliant loose diamonds. For fancy shaped loose diamonds the process rather varies.

Polishing: The last step in the loose diamond finishing process is polishing. The loose diamond is imposed onto a rotating wheel that looks like a record turntable that is covered with diamond dust. The diamond dust is the rough that polishes away small imperfections.