68                       PRECIOUS STONES
	called the " pavilions " ; the spaces between these four pavilions have their ends nearest the girdle formed by the inner sides of the skill facets, and of these spaces, there will, of course, be four, which also are five-sided figures, and are called " quoins," so that there are eight five-sided facets—four large and four narrow—their bases forming a square, with a small portion of each corner cut away ; the bases of the broader pavilions form the four sides, whilst the bases of the four narrower quoins cut off the corners of the square, and this flat portion, bounded by the eight bases, is called the "culet," but more commonly " collet." So that below the girdle, we find twenty-five facets : 8 cross, 8 skill, 4 pavilion, 4 quoin, and 1 collet. These, with the 33 of the crown, make 58, which is the usual number of facets in a brilliant, though this varies with the character, quality, and size of the diamond. For instance, though this number is con­sidered the best for normal stones, specially large ones often have more, otherwise there is danger of their appearing dull, and it requires a vast amount of skill and experience to decide upon the particular number and size of the facets that will best display the fire and brilliance of a large stone, for it is obvious that if, after months of cutting and polishing, it is found that a greater or smaller number of facets ought to have been allowed, the error cannot be retrieved without consider­able loss, and probable ruin to the stone. In the case of the Cullinan diamonds, the two largest of which are called the Stars of Africa, 74 facets were cut in the largest portion, while in the next largest the experts