fashioning
a precious stone, otherwise the gem may he ruined at the onset, for it
will only divide along its lines of cleavage, and any mistake in
deciding upon these, would "break," not "split" the stone, and destroy
the beauty of its crystalline structure. An example of this was
specially seen in the great Cullinan diamond, the splitting of which
was perhaps the most thrilling moment in the history of precious
stones.* The value of the enormous crystal was almost beyond
computation, but it had a flaw in the centre, and in order to cut out
this flaw it was necessary to divide the stone into two pieces. The
planes of cleavage were worked out, the diamond was sawn a little, when
the operator, acknowledged to be the greatest living expert, inserted a
knife in the saw-mark, and with the second blow of a steel rod, the
marvellous stone parted precisely as intended, cutting the flaw exactly
in two, leaving half of it on the outside of each divided portion. The
slightest miscalculation would have meant enormous loss, if not ruin,
to the stone, but the greatest feat the world has ever known in the
splitting of a priceless diamond was accomplished successfully by this
skilful expert in an Amsterdam workroom in February, 1908. Some idea of
the risk involved may be gathered from the fact that this stone, the
largest ever discovered, in the rough weighed nearly 3,254 carats, its
value being almost anything one cared to state—incalculable.
*
The hammer and knife used in cutting the diamond, the two largest
pieces of which are now called " The Stars of Africa," together with a
model of the great uncut stone, are in the Tower of London amongst the
Regalia.
