rhombic
dodecahedron, which is found principally in Brazil: cheese-stones is
the name given to amorphous diamonds by the diamond-grinders.
According
to the quality of the diamonds, they are divided in Sumbhulpur into
four classes, which correspond with the deities of the Hindoos—the
Bramins, Tschettri, Wassiers (Bysh), and Tschadrie. The native
jewellers are very expert in estimating the value of these diamonds.
The value of the polished diamonds depends on the fol-lowing conditions:
1st. Color. The
limpid diamonds command the highest price, and twice as much as those
that are colored; the blackish, brownish, yellowish, brown, steel-gray,
and impure bluish ones, stand in no value, and are often rejected for
working.
2d. Purity, Faultlessness, and Transparency. The
diamonds ought to be, according to the technical terms of the
jewellers, free from ashes, gray spots, rusty or knotty places, veins,
fissures, scratches, feathers, flaws, sand, grains, and faint yellow or
vitreous spots. The Brazilian diamonds exhibit sometimes, in their
interior, designs resembling mosses, like those of the Mocha stones and
agates; and we may often observe it in the green diamond; if a limpid
diamond plays somewhat in the brown- color, it is called shrugging, and this diminishes its value : paunched, are those diamonds which are neither pure nor clear.
The transparency and clearness of the diamond are divided into three degrees, viz:
A, of the first water, as in those diamonds which are free from even the slightest faults, and stand highest in price.
B, of the second water, as in those diamonds which, although clear and limpid, are marred by some dark spots, clouds, or flaws.
C, of the third water, as in those diamonds having a
