The word diamond comes from the ancient Greek “adamas” which means indomitable. Its incredible properties of hardness gave it this name. It is the hardest mineral in the world (10 on the Mohs scale for scratches)! So, you are probably wondering: how do you cut the hardest stone in the world?
In ancient times, diamonds were used in their rough form. Uncut diamond jewellery was found in ancient Rome.
However, texts mention the use of polishing diamonds as early as the 6th century in India. Demonstrating that it had already been discovered that only the diamond (in this case diamond dust) can cut or scratch the diamond itself.
The polishing of gems reached Europe thanks to Arab merchants trading with Venice. But it is only from the 15th century that we know a great technical advance. The invention of the grinding wheel in Antwerp and Amsterdam made it possible to create facets on the diamonds that were cut by polishing the tip of their octahedron. New cutting forms became popular thanks to this new technique: Point Cut, Table Cut and Rose Cut. By the end of the 16th century, the basic steps of modern cutting (bruting, faceting and polishing) had been mastered.
Over the years, the knowledge on diamonds and their structure has greatly improved. The understanding of the properties of directional hardness and cleavage have greatly increased the possibilities of diamond cutting.
- Directional hardness: hardness refers to the difficulty of scratching the stone. In the case of diamond, it depends on the orientation of the facet in relation to its structural planes.
- Cleaving : if a force is applied in the right direction, the stone will split into two parts very cleanly.
The next invention that modernised diamond cutting was the diamond saw. The method consists of using a wire covered with a mixture of oil and diamond powder. The wire is driven through the stone. However, the work was very exhausting and cleaving was mainly preferred.
The techniques did not evolve much until recently with laser cutting of diamonds, allowing us today to make an infinity of shapes for your diamonds. You can find the fancy shape of your dreams even if it’s a unicorn!
