subjected to a most minute examination, in which a long silken broom is used.
The polishing comprehends two distinct operations—the setting, and the polishing properly so called.
The
setter has at his command a furnace filled with burning charcoal. His
work is to solder the diamond into a quantity of alloy resting in a
brass or copper cup, which has attached to it a rod for holding it by.
The alloy consists of a mixture of tin and lead, which, when pressed
into the cup, gives to the whole the form of an acorn, with the
diamond as its apex. This soldering is no easy task. There are
sixty-four distinct surfaces to be smoothed in the brilliant, and each
of these must be properly adjusted in the burning mould. It would seem
that the fingers of the setters are fireproof, for it is with their
fingers that they adjust the setting of the metal around the diamond;
and when, after its manipulation, the alloy is plunged into water to be
cooled, the cloud of steam that arises attests the painful temperature
to which the hand of the workman has been subjected.
The
diamond, set as the apex of the acorn-shaped lump of metal, which again
rests in a brazen cup with unyielding stem, is given to the polisher.
The polishing-rooms are the most interesting apartments of the great establishments for diamond-
