THE CUTTING OF PRECIOUS STONES 67
side
: each pair having their apexes together, meeting on the four
extremities of two lines drawn laterally at right angles through the
stone. It will, therefore, be seen that one side of each triangle
coincides with the girdle, and as their bases do not meet, these spaces
are occupied by eight small triangles, called " skill facets," each of
which has, as its base, the girdle, and the outer of its sides
coincides with the base of the adjoining "cross facet." The two inner
sides of each pair of skill facets form the half of a diamond or
lozenge-shaped facet, called a " quoin," of which there are four. The
inner or upper half of each of these four quoins forms the bases of two
triangles, one at each side, making eight in all, which are called '"
star facets," and the inner lilies of these eight star facets form the
boundary of the top of the stone, called the "table." The inner lines
also of the star facets immediately below the table and those of the
cross facets immediately above the girdle form four " templets," or "
bezils." We thus have above the girdle, thirty-three facets : 8 cross,
8 skill, 4 quoin, 8 star, 1 table, and 4 templets.
Reversing
the stone and again commencing at the girdle, we have eight " skill
facets," sometimes called the lower skill facets, the bases of which
are on the girdle, their outer sides forming the bases of eight cross
facets, the apexes of which meet on the extremities of the horizontal
line, as in those above the girdle. If the basal lines of these cross
facets, where they join the sides of the skill facets, are extended to
the peak, or narrow end of the stone, these lines, together with the
sides of the cross facets, will form four five-sided facets,
F 2
