Sec. I, Ch. 4: Working of Precious Stones

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	CHAPTER IV.

	THE WORKING OF PRECIOUS STONES.

	LTHOUGH Professor Ruskin, in an eloquent lecture delivered many years ago at the London Institution, advised the ladies to wear uncut Precious Stones, it may be safely said that the eccentric advice of the learned professor will never be followed, either by the public at large, or by those connoisseurs who appreciate the true beauty of a noble mineral. It is undeniable that the qualities for which Precious Stones are most prized,—their lustre, transparency, refraction, and dispersion of light,—may be to some extent visible even in their rough state ; but in order to enhance these advantages, and to render them more attractive to lovers of beauty, the Diamond must be subjected to cleaving, bruting, cutting, and polishing, while coloured stones must in like manner be submitted to the art of the skilful lapidary, who brings out all the brilliancy and colour of the stone, while concealing its imperfections. The cleaving, bruting, cutting, and polishing appertain to the art of the diamond-cutter, whose aim is so to manipulate the rough stone, as to produce with the least possible loss of weight, a regular, or symmetrical form, bounded by smooth, brilliant surfaces, called facets. The subsequent cutting of designs or mottoes in the polished stone belongs to the art of the stone-engraver. It does not appear that the Ancients appreciated the art of the lapidary as highly as we do. They preferred

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