Color
and size were the chief distinction in diamonds, as in the other
precious stones, in the early days before the advance of the art of
diamond cutting which has added so greatly to the brilliancy and beauty
of this gem. Centuries ran by before the ancient lapidaries attempted
more than the polishing of the surfaces of the natural facets of the
crystal, though the comparative ease with which this hardest of stones
may be split by following the natural cleavage lines may have been
observed. Size was rated so highly by the Hindoos in valuing a gem that
the conception of increasing the worth of a jewel by cutting away the
greater part of it would not have been tolerated even if it had been
feasible. When cutting to a limited extent began to be practised in
India, it was generally unsymmetrical and unscientific, as the oldest
known diamonds bear witness, and there was comparatively little advance
for many centuries, as every celebrated gem of Indian workmanship
plainly shows.1 But even with imperfect cutting and crude
polishing the inherent beauties of the ancient stones were more or less
fully disclosed.
In
the mines of Panna there were four noted divisions in grading. Clear
and brilliant stones were in the class Motichul, Mansk was the class
name applied to diamonds of greenish tint, Panna to light yellow, and
Bunsput to sepia colored stones.2 In India at large there
was a comprehensive divisional grading corresponding to the main caste
distinctions, — the "twice-born," priests, warriors, and merchants, and
the " once-born," tillers of the land.8 The Brahmans were
the diamonds of highest range, clear and colorless crystals ; the
Kshatriyas, clear crystals, amber tinted or of the color of honey ;
Vaisyas, the cream colored ; and the servile Sudras, the grayish white
stones. Grades in rank were more minutely marked in the rubies of the
famous Badak-shan mines in Persia, where the common people believed
that the precious stones were deposited in the " rag-i-lal " or parent
vein in successive layers. The outside layer contained the small
1 "A Treatise on Diamonds and Pearls," David Jeffries, London, 1751.
2 " Precious Stones and Gems," Streeter.
3 "Annals of India," J. Talboys Wheeler, Calcutta, 1881.
