Cullinan diamond.—The
great Cullinan diamond was presented to King Edward of England on his
birthday, by the people of Transvaal as a demonstration of loyalty and
high regard. This diamond is now being cut to be placed among the crown
jewels of England. In the rough the Cullinan diamond weighed nearly
3,025 carats, or about 1.37 pounds avoirdupois, and was found in the
Premier mine, Transvaal, m January, 1905. The cutting and polishing of
this huge diamond is being canied on by the firm of Joseph Asscher
& Co., m Amsterdam, and will probably not be completed before the
end of 1908. According to Mr. Louis Asscher," of the Asscher firm, the
cleaving of the diamond was very successfully accomplished by Joseph
Asscher, who split it through a defective spot, part of which was left
in each portion of the diamond. The diamond was cleft by making an
incision half an inch deep with a sharp diamond point in the proper
place and then striking a specially designed knife blade placed in the
incision a heavy blow with a piece of steel. Apparatus specially
designed for polishing the diamond has been constructed as a dop 6
inches across and weighing about 20 pounds, which is raised
mechanically from the polishing disk. The latter is about 16J inches
across and makes 2,400 revolutions per minute. Diamond dust mixed with
oil will be used in large quantities in polishing the stone. The larger
portion will probably be cut into a drop-shaped stone weighing between
500 and 600 carats when completed. The other portion will be cut into
smaller stones, one of which, even then, will be one of the large
diamonds of the world. Extreme precaution is taken to guard the
diamond at all times, both by the use of numerous watchmen and by
combinations of safes.
Hope blue diamond.—The famous "Hope" blue diamond has been sold by Joseph Frankel's Sons of New York. The buyer is Senor S. I. Habid,6
a Spanish collector in Paris, and the price was about $400,000. The
"Hope" diamond is a beautiful blue, very brilliant stone weighing 44J
carats, believed to be a part of the wonderful blue diamond, weighing
112 carats, brought from India by Tavernier in 1642 and sold to Louis
XIV. A century later this diamond was cut into a triangular shaped
stone weighing about 67 carats. In 1792 it was stolen, and no trace was
ever discovered. In 1830 three blue diamonds, of the same color and
quality as the Tavernier stone appeared on the market. The aggregate
weight of these three diamonds was less than that of the stolen French
jewel by an amount which would naturally be lost in cutting. The
largest stone was purchased by Henry Thomas Hope, from whom it was
named. After Mr. Hope's death the diamond was purchased from the heirs
by Joseph Frankel.
Metric carat.—The
weight of the carat used in different parts of the world is quite
variable, ranging from 188.5 milligrams in Boulogne to 213.3 in Turin
and to 254.6 in Arabia.c The weights most used, however,
fall between 205 and 207 milligrams. The advantages to be gained by the
use of a standard carat for all countries bearing a simple relation to
other standard weights can readily be seen. The metric carat, of 200
milligrams, answers this purpose well and is not greatly
"Jewelers' Ciro. Weekly, May 20,1908.
6 Manuf. Jeweler, May 21, 1908.
"Valentine, E. J., The carat weight: Mining Science, April 30,1908.
