Harry Winston
Harry Winston was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade, he traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963. Winston founded the Harry Winston Inc. in New York City in 1932. He had been called by many as the "King of Diamonds". Winston's father Jacob started a small jewelry business after he and his mother immigrated to the United States from Ukraine. While growing up, he worked in his father's shop; when he was twelve years old, he recognized a two-carat emerald in a pawn shop, bought it for 25 cents, sold it two days for $800. Winston started his business in 1920 and opened his first store in New York City in 1932. Winston's jewelry empire began in 1926, with his acquisition of Arabella Huntington's jewelry collection, for $1.2 million. The wife of railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington, Arabella amassed one of the world's most prestigious collections of jewelry from Parisian jewelers such as Cartier; when Winston bought the collection after her death, the designs of the jewelry in the collection were quite old fashioned.
Winston redesigned the jewelry into more contemporary styles and showcased his unique skill at jewelry crafting. According to the Huntington museum, "He boasted that Arabella's famous necklace of pearls now adorned the necks of at least two dozen women around the world."When he died, Winston left the company to his two sons and Bruce, who entered into a decade-long battle over the control of the company. In 2000, Ronald along with new business partner, Fenway Partners, bought Bruce out from the company for $54.1 million. Winston was among the most noted jewelers in the world, well-known to the general public. In the 1953 musical film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" includes the spoken interjection "Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it!" The Lauren Weisberger comic novel, Chasing Harry Winston, was published in May 2008. In 2015, Harry Winston, Inc. operated 39 salons and numerous retail affiliates in locations such as New York, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Bal Harbour, Costa Mesa, other countries around the world.
Reference: The Arcots, first 33.70 and 23.65 carats, recut by Winston to 31.01 and 18.85 carats, respectively. The stones were thought to be a match, but when Winston bought them, removed them from their settings and discovered they were not, he decided to recut them to improve their clarity and brilliance. Both were either colorless or near-colorless, antique pear-shaped brilliants; the Anastasia, three emerald cuts weighing 42.95, 30.90 and 22.88 carats, all D color and Flawless clarity. Cut from a rough crystal weighing 307.30 carats Winston had purchased in 1972, largest gem named after Anastasia Nikolaevna, daughter of Czar Nicholas II. The Ashoka a 42.47 carats, modified elongated cushion brilliant. Purchased by Winston from a Chinese dealer in 1947. Stone was recut in 1977 from its original weight of 42.47 carats before it was sold again as a ring. The Blue Heart, a 30.82 carats, heart-shaped brilliant. After the cut was made, Cartier sold it to the Unzue family of Argentina in 1910, it reappeared in Paris in 1953 where it was purchased by an important European titled family purchased by Harry Winston in 1959.
Winston mounted it in a ring and sold it to Marjorie Merriweather Post, who donated it to the Smithsonian Institution. The Briolette of India, a 90.38 carats, briolette cut. The Cornflower Blue, 31.93 carats pear brilliant. The larger stone was sold in 1969 as the pendant for a diamond necklace. Winston repurchased it two years then sold it to a Middle Eastern client; the round brilliant was set as a ring and sold in 1969. In 1987 the pear brilliant was auctioned in Switzerland; the Countess Széchényi, a 62.05 carats, D color, pear-shaped brilliant. Purchased by Winston in 1959 from namesake and recut to a flawless 59.38 carats. Sold to an American industrialist in 1966; the Crown of Charlemagne, a 37.05 carats, sky blue, Old European cut brilliant. The Deal Sweetener, a 45.31 carats diamond plus four smaller stones, D color and Flawless, emerald cut. In 1974 Winston bought a large parcel of diamonds worth $24,500,000—at that time the largest individual sale of diamonds in history. Harry Oppenheimer, head of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. arranged the transaction.
When Winston asked Oppenheimer, "How about a little something to sweeten the deal?" Harry Oppenheimer pulled a 181 carats rough diamond out of his pocket and rolled it across the table. Winston picked up the stone and said "Thanks." It was cut into the largest being named the Deal Sweetener. Other gems cut from the crystal: An emerald cut of 24.67 carats, plus three pear shapes of 10.80, 4.19 and 1.45 carats, respectively. All were sold that same year; the Deepdene, a 104.52 carats, antique cushion brilliant. Purchased by Winston in 1954 from Cary W. Bok sold the following year to Mrs. Eleanor Loder of Canada. Resurfaced in 1971 and put up for auction at Christie's in
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian power that dominated large portion of Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. The empire formally existed from 1674 with the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji and ended in 1818 with the defeat of Puppet Peshwa Bajirao 2 installed by Maratha Nobles under Monarch Chhatrapati Pratapsingh; the Marathas are credited to a large extent for ending Mughal rule in India. The Warrior Maratha were a group of various castes referred to as "Mavla". Maratha Empire had Kshatriya Kings and people from all castes as warriors in the empire from the western Deccan Plateau who rose to prominence by establishing a Hindavi Swarajya; the Maratha became prominent in the 17th century under the leadership of Shivaji, who revolted against the Adil Shahi dynasty, founded the empire with Raigad as his capital. Known for their mobility, the Maratha were able to consolidate their territory during the Mughal–Maratha Wars and controlled a large part of the Indian subcontinent.
After Shivaji his son Sambhaji a talented and clever King,a sanskrit Scholar and having a great Physique ruled the kingdom. After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707,Sambhajis son Chhattrapati Shahu, grandson of Shivaji, was released by the Mughals. Following a brief struggle with his aunt Tarabai, Shahu became the ruler and appointed Bahiroji Pingale and Balaji Vishwanath and his descendants, as the peshwas of the empire. Shahu appointed Ashtapradhan like Chitnis, Sar Senapati, etc Maratha Nobles played a key role in the expansion of Maratha rule; the empire at its peak stretched from Tamil Nadu in the south, to Peshawar in the north, Bengal Subah in the east. The Maratha discussed abolishing the Mughal throne and placing Vishwasrao on the Mughal imperial throne in Delhi but were not able to do so; this lead to a decrease in the power of Peshwa like that of Chhatrapati's In 1761, the Maratha Army lost the Third Battle of Panipat against Ahmad Shah Abdali of the Afghan Durrani Empire, which halted their imperial expansion into Afghanistan.
Ten years after Panipat, the young Peshwa Madhavrao I's Maratha Resurrection reinstated Maratha authority over North India. But after his death Peshwas became puppet of the Maratha Nobles like Shindes, Holkars, Bhonsales of Nagpur In a bid to manage the large empire, Madhavrao gave semi-autonomy to the strongest of the knights, created a confederacy of Maratha states; these leaders became known as the Gaekwads of Baroda, the Holkars of Indore and Malwa, the Scindias of Gwalior and Ujjain, the Bhonsales of Nagpur, the Meheres of Vidharbha and the Puars of Dhar and Dewas. In 1775, the East India Company intervened in a Peshwa family succession struggle in Pune, which led to the First Anglo-Maratha War; the Marathas were victorious. The Maratha remained the pre-eminent power in India until their defeat in the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha Wars, which resulted in the East India Company controlling most of India. A large portion of the Maratha empire was coastline, secured by the potent Maratha Navy under commanders such as Kanhoji Angre.
He was successful at keeping foreign naval ships at bay those of the Portuguese and British nations. Securing the coastal areas and building land-based fortifications were crucial aspects of the Maratha's defensive strategy and regional military history; the Maratha Empire is referred to as the Maratha Confederacy. The historian Barbara Ramusack says that the former is a designation preferred by Indian nationalists, while the latter was that used by British historians, she notes, "neither term is accurate since one implies a substantial degree of centralisation and the other signifies some surrender of power to a central government and a longstanding core of political administrators. Maratha power was fragmented among several discrete fragments". Although at present, the word Maratha refers to a particular caste of warriors and peasants, in the past the word has been used to describe Marathi people; the empire had its head in the Chhatrapati as de facto rulers, but after the death of Shahu the de facto governance was in the hands of the Peshwas.
After the death of Chhatrapati Shahu and with the death of Madhavrao – I, various chiefs played the role of the de facto rulers in their own regions. Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj son of Shahaji Bhonsale and Rajmata Jijabai was a Maratha aristocrat of the Bhosale clan, considered to be the founder of the Maratha empire, it was his parents dream to found a Empire of Self rule referred to as Hindavi Swarajya. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj led a resistance to free the people from the Sultanate of Bijapur in 1645 by winning the fort Torna, followed by many more forts, placing the area under his control and establishing Hindavi Swarajya, he created an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital and fought against the Mughals to defend his kingdom. He was crowned as Chhatrapati of the new Maratha kingdom in 1674; the Maratha kingdom comprised about 4.1% of the subcontinent, but it was spread over large tracts from Tanjavore in Tamil Nadu till Northern Maharashtra. At the time of his death, it was reinforced with about 352 forts, defended by about 50,000 cavalry, 80,000 foot soldiers, as well as naval establishments along the west coast.
He is known as the "Father of Indian Navy". Over time, the kingdom would increase in heterogeneity. Shivaji had two sons: Sam
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 known as the Stock Market Crash of 1929 or the Great Crash, is a major stock market crash that occurred in late October 1929. It started on October 24 and continued until October 29, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, it was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, when taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its after effects. The crash, which followed the London Stock Exchange's crash of September, signaled the beginning of the 12-year Great Depression that affected all Western industrialized countries; the Roaring Twenties, the decade that followed World War I that led to the crash, was a time of wealth and excess. Building on post-war optimism, rural Americans migrated to the cities in vast numbers throughout the decade with the hopes of finding a more prosperous life in the ever-growing expansion of America's industrial sector. While American cities prospered, the overproduction of agricultural produce created widespread financial despair among American farmers throughout the decade.
This would be blamed as one of the key factors that led to the 1929 stock market crash. Despite the dangers of speculation, it was believed that the stock market would continue to rise forever. On March 25, 1929, after the Federal Reserve warned of excessive speculation, a small crash occurred as investors started to sell stocks at a rapid pace, exposing the market's shaky foundation. Two days banker Charles E. Mitchell announced that his company, the National City Bank, would provide $25 million in credit to stop the market's slide. Mitchell's move brought a temporary halt to the financial crisis, call money declined from 20 to 8 percent. However, the American economy showed ominous signs of trouble: steel production declined, construction was sluggish, automobile sales went down, consumers were building up high debts because of easy credit. Despite all the economic trouble signs and the market breaks in March and May 1929, stocks resumed their advance in June and the gains continued unabated until early September 1929.
The market had been on a nine-year run that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average increase in value tenfold, peaking at 381.17 on September 3, 1929. Shortly before the crash, economist Irving Fisher famously proclaimed, "Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." The optimism and the financial gains of the great bull market were shaken after a well-publicized early September prediction from financial expert Roger Babson that "a crash was coming". The initial September decline was thus called the "Babson Break" in the press; that was the start of the Great Crash, but until the severe phase of the crash in October, many investors regarded the September "Babson Break" as a "healthy correction" and buying opportunity. On September 20, the London Stock Exchange crashed when top British investor Clarence Hatry and many of his associates were jailed for fraud and forgery; the London crash weakened the optimism of American investment in markets overseas. In the days leading up to the crash, the market was unstable.
Periods of selling and high volumes were interspersed with brief periods of rising prices and recovery. Selling intensified in mid-October. On October 24, the market lost 11 percent of its value at the opening bell on heavy trading; the huge volume meant that the report of prices on the ticker tape in brokerage offices around the nation was hours late and so investors had no idea what most stocks were trading for at the moment, increasing panic. Several leading Wall Street bankers met to find a solution to the panic and chaos on the trading floor; the meeting included acting head of Morgan Bank. They chose vice president of the Exchange, to act on their behalf. With the bankers' financial resources behind him, Whitney placed a bid to purchase a large block of shares in U. S. Steel at a price well above the current market; as traders watched, Whitney placed similar bids on other "blue chip" stocks. The tactic was similar to one that had ended the Panic of 1907, it succeeded in halting the slide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered.
The rally continued on Friday, October 25, the half-day session on Saturday, October 26, but unlike 1907, the respite was only temporary. Over the weekend, the events were covered by the newspapers across the United States. On October 28, "Black Monday", more investors facing margin calls decided to get out of the market, the slide continued with a record loss in the Dow for the day of 38.33 points, or 13%. The next day, "Black Tuesday", October 29, 1929, about 16 million shares traded as the panic selling reached its peak; some stocks had no buyers at any price that day. The Dow lost 12 percent; the volume of stocks traded. On October 29, William C. Durant joined with members of the Rockefeller family and other financial giants to buy large quantities of stocks to demonstrate to the public their confidence in the market, but their efforts failed to stop the large decline in prices; the massive volume of stocks traded that day made the ticker continue to run until about 7:45 p.m. The market had lost over $30 billion in the space of two days, including $14 billion on October 29 alone.
After a one-day recovery on October 30, when the Dow regained an additional 28.40 points, or 12 percent, to close at 2
Diamond color
A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond is transparent with no hue, or color. However, in reality no gem-sized natural diamonds are perfect; the color of a diamond may be affected by chemical impurities and/or structural defects in the crystal lattice. Depending on the hue and intensity of a diamond's coloration, a diamond's color can either detract from or enhance its value. For example, most white diamonds are discounted in price when more yellow hue is detectable, while intense pink diamonds or blue diamonds can be more valuable. Of all colored diamonds, red diamonds are the rarest; the Aurora Pyramid of Hope displays a spectacular array of colored diamonds, including red diamonds. Diamonds occur in a variety of colors—steel gray, blue, orange, green, pink to purple and black. Colored diamonds contain interstitial impurities or structural defects that cause the coloration, pure diamonds are transparent and colorless. Diamonds are scientifically classed into two main types and several subtypes, according to the nature of impurities present and how these impurities affect light absorption: Type I diamonds have nitrogen atoms as the main impurity at a concentration of 0.1%.
If the nitrogen atoms are in pairs they do not affect the diamond's color. If the nitrogen atoms are in large even-numbered aggregates they impart a yellow to brown tint. About 98% of gem diamonds are type Ia, most of these are a mixture of IaA and IaB material: these diamonds belong to the Cape series, named after the diamond-rich region known as Cape Province in North Africa, whose deposits are Type Ia. If the nitrogen atoms are dispersed throughout the crystal in isolated sites, they give the stone an intense yellow or brown tint. Synthetic diamond containing nitrogen is Type Ib. Type I diamonds absorb from 320 nm, they have a characteristic fluorescence and visible absorption spectrum. Type II diamonds have no measurable nitrogen impurities. Type II diamonds absorb in a different region of the infrared, transmit in the ultraviolet below 225 nm, unlike Type I diamonds, they have differing fluorescence characteristics, but no discernible visible absorption spectrum. Type IIa diamond can be colored pink, red, or brown due to structural anomalies arising through plastic deformation during crystal growth—these diamonds are rare, but constitute a large percentage of Australian production.
Type IIb diamonds, which account for 0.1% of gem diamonds, are light blue due to scattered boron within the crystal matrix. However, a blue-grey color may occur in Type Ia diamonds and be unrelated to boron. Not restricted to type are green diamonds, whose color is caused by GR1 color centers in the crystal lattice produced by exposure to varying quantities of radiation. Pink and red are caused by plastic deformation of the crystal lattice from pressure. Black diamonds are caused by microscopic black or gray inclusions of other materials such as graphite or sulfides and/or microscopic fractures. Opaque or opalescent white diamonds are caused by microscopic inclusions. Purple diamonds are caused by a combination of high hydrogen content; the majority of diamonds that are mined are in a range of pale yellow or brown color, termed the normal color range. Diamonds that are of intense yellow or brown, or any other color are called fancy color diamonds. Diamonds that are of the highest purity are colorless, appear a bright white.
The degree to which diamonds exhibit body color is one of the four value factors by which diamonds are assessed. Diamonds have a color grading system; this system goes from D to Z. The more colorless a diamond is, the rarer and more valuable it is because it appears white and brighter to the eye. Color grading of diamonds was performed as a step of sorting rough diamonds for sale by the London Diamond Syndicate; as the diamond trade developed, early diamond grades were introduced by various parties in the diamond trade. Without any co-operative development these early grading systems lacked standard nomenclature, consistency; some early grading scales were. Numerous terms developed to describe diamonds of particular colors: golconda, jagers, blue white, fine white, gem blue, etc. Refers to a grading scale for diamonds in the normal color range used by internationally recognized laboratories; the scale ranges from D, colorless to Z, a pale yellow or brown color. Brown diamonds darker than K color are described using their letter grade, a descriptive phrase, for example M Faint Brown.
Diamonds with more depth of color than Z color fall into the fancy color diamond range. Diamond color is graded by comparing a sample stone to a master stone set of diamonds; each master stone is known to exhibit the least amount of body color that a diamond in that color grade may exhibit. A trained diamond grader compares a diamond of unknown grade against the series of master stones, assessing where in the range of color the diamond resides; this process occurs in a lighting box, fitted with daylight equivalent lamps. Accurate color grading can only be performed with diamond unset, as the comparison with master
Baji Rao II
Baji Rao II was the last Peshwa of the Maratha Empire, governed from 1795 to 1818. He was installed as a puppet by the Maratha nobles under the reign of Chhatrapati Pratapsingh, whose growing power prompted him to flee his capital Pune and sign the Treaty of Bassein with the British; this resulted in the Second Anglo-Maratha War, in which the British emerged victorious and re-installed him as the titular Peshwa. In 1817, Baji Rao II joined the Third Anglo-Maratha War against the British, after they favoured the Gaekwad nobles in a revenue-sharing dispute. After suffering several battle defeats, the Peshwa surrendered to the British, agreed to retire in return for an estate at Bithoor and an annual pension. Baji Rao was the son of his wife Anandibai. Raghunathrao had defected to the English, causing the First Anglo-Maratha War, which ended with the Treaty of Salbai. Baji Rao was born in 1775, when both his parents were kept in imprisonment by the Peshwa's cabinet; until the age of 19, he along with his brothers were kept in confinement and denied basic rights of education.
Raghunathrao's successor as Peshwa, Madhavrao II, committed suicide in 1795, died without an heir. A power struggle ensued among the Maratha nobles for control of the Confederacy; the powerful general Daulat Rao Scindia and minister Nana Fadnavis installed Baji Rao II as a puppet Peshwa. Baji Rao II had to carry the unfortunate legacy of his parents who, despite being from the same Brahmin family, were suspected of being involved in the murder of the young fifth Peshwa Narayanrao in 1774 AD; as such, being the son of suspected murderers, he was looked down upon by his ministers, by his subjects. His every action was viewed with prejudice and it is said that though regarded as a good administrator and builder of modern-day Pune, he was labeled as incapable and a coward Peshwa. Pandita Ramabai has criticized him in her writings for marrying, at the age of 60, a girl, only 9 or 10 years old. After the death of Fadnavis in 1800, Daulat Rao Scindia took complete control over the Peshwa's government.
As Scindia started eliminating his rivals within the government, Peshwa Baji Rao II became concerned about his own safety. He turned to British resident Colonel William Palmer for help. General Arthur Wellesley was in the southern parts of Maratha territory at that time, having concluded a campaign against Dhondia Wagh. However, Baji Rao was reluctant to sign a treaty with the British. In 1802, Scindia's rival chief Yashwant Rao Holkar marched towards Pune, he proclaimed allegiance to the Peshwa, sent assurances that he only wanted to free Pune of Scindia's control. But Baji Rao was apprehensive since he had earlier ordered the killing of Yashwant Rao's brother Vithoji Rao Holkar, he sought help from Scindia, away from Pune at that time. Scindia dispatched an army that arrived in Pune on 22 October 1802. Holkar defeated the joint forces of Scindia in the Battle of Hadapsar on 25 October. On the morning of 25 October, before the battle, Baji Rao had sent preliminary terms for a treaty to the British.
After the Holkar victory in the battle, he fled to Vasai, where he sought assistance from the British in Bombay. Holkar set up an ad-hoc council headed by Baji Rao's adoptive brother Amrut Rao, ran the Peshwa's government in Amrut Rao's name. Baji Rao II concluded the Treaty of Bassein in December 1802, in which the British agreed to reinstate Baji Rao II as Peshwa, in return for allowing into Maratha territory a force of 6,000 infantry troops complete with guns, officered by the British, paying for its maintenance and accepting the stationing of a permanent British political agent at Pune. Holkar and Sindhia resisted the British intrusion in Maratha affairs, which resulted in the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803-1805; the British triumphed, the Marathas were forced to accept losses of territories due to internal rivalries between Holkars and Scindias, treachery committed in all the battles by Scindia's French and other European officers, who handled the imported guns within the Maratha army - the Marathas failing to train their own men in sufficient numbers to handle imported guns.
The raids of the Pindaris, irregular horsemen who resided in the Maratha territories, into British territory led to the Third Anglo-Maratha War of 1817-1818, which ended in the defeat of the Bhosles and other Maratha feudatories. In the mid-1810s, the British had intervened in a financial dispute over revenue-sharing between the Peshwa and Gaekwads of Baroda. On 13 June 1817, the Company forced Baji Rao II to sign an agreement renouncing claims on Gaekwad's revenues and ceding large swaths of territory to the British; this treaty of Pune formally ended the Peshwa's titular overlordship over other Maratha chiefs, thus ending the Maratha confederacy. On 5 November 1817, the British Resident at Pune was attacked by Baji Rao II's army led by his Attorney Mor Dixit. Bajirao II could have won this battle had he not halted the progress of his forces by succumbing to the request of British Resident Elphinstone for a ceasefire. Baji Rao watched the battle that ensued between his troops and the British from a hill now called Parvati.
This battle on 5 November 1817, referred to as the Battle of Khadki, resulted in Peshwa's defeat. Afterward, his troops moved to Garpir on the outskirts towards present-day Solapur Road to block the British troops coming from Jalna, but the treason of one of Baji Rao's chiefs, Sardar Ghorpade Sondurkar, led to his force withdrawing. Subsequently, Baji Rao captured Chakan Fort from the British troops. Meanwhile, the British placed Pune under Colonel Burr, while a British force led by General
Diamond cutting
Diamond cutting is the practice of changing a diamond from a rough stone into a faceted gem. Cutting diamond requires specialized knowledge, tools and techniques because of its extreme difficulty; the first guild of diamond cutters and polishers was formed in 1375 in Nuremberg and led to the development of various types of "cut". This has two meanings in relation to diamonds; the first is the shape: square, so on. The second relates to the specific quality of cut within the shape, the quality and price will vary based on the cut quality. Since diamonds are one of the hardest materials, special diamond-coated surfaces are used to grind the diamond down; the first major development in diamond cutting came with the "Point Cut" during the half of the 14th century: the Point Cut follows the natural shape of an octahedral rough diamond crystal, eliminating some waste in the cutting process. Diamond cutting, as well as overall processing, is concentrated in a few cities around the world; the main diamond trading centers are Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Dubai from where roughs are sent to the main processing centers of India and China.
Diamonds are cut and polished in Surat and the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. India in recent years has held between 19–31% of the world market in polished diamonds and China has held 17% of the world market share in a recent year. Another important diamond center is New York City; the diamond cutting process includes these steps. Diamond manufacturers analyze diamond rough from an economic perspective, with two objectives steering decisions made about how a faceted diamond will be cut; the first objective is that of maximum return on investment for the piece of diamond rough. The second is how the finished diamond can be sold. Scanning devices are used to get a 3-dimensional computer model of the rough stone. Inclusions are photographed and placed on the 3D model, used to find an optimal way to cut the stone; the process of maximizing the value of finished diamonds, from a rough diamond into a polished gemstone, is both an art and a science. The choice of cut is influenced by many factors.
Market factors include the exponential increase in value of diamonds as weight increases, referred to as weight retention, the popularity of certain shapes amongst consumers. Physical factors include the original shape of the rough stone, location of the inclusions and flaws to be eliminated; the weight retention analysis studies the diamond rough to find the best combination of finished stones as it relates to per carat value. For instance, a 2.20 carat octahedron may produce either two half carat diamonds whose combined value may be higher than that of a 0.80 carat diamond + 0.30 carat diamond that could be cut from the same rough diamond. The round brilliant cut and square brilliant cuts are preferred when the crystal is an octahedron, as two stones may be cut from one such crystal. Oddly shaped crystals, such as macles are more to be cut in a fancy cut—that is, a cut other than the round brilliant—which the particular crystal shape lends itself to. With modern techniques, the cutting and polishing of a diamond crystal always results in a dramatic loss of weight, about 50%.
Sometimes the cutters compromise and accept lesser proportions and symmetry in order to avoid inclusions or to preserve the weight. Since the per-carat price of a diamond shifts around key milestones, many one-carat diamonds are the result of compromising Cut quality for Carat weight. In colored diamonds, cutting can influence the color grade of the diamond, thereby raising its value. Certain cut shapes are used to intensify the color of the diamond; the radiant cut is an example of this type of cut. Natural green color diamonds most have a surface coloration caused by natural irradiation, which does not extend through the stone. For this reason green diamonds are cut with significant portions of the original rough diamond's surface left on the finished gem, it is these naturals. The other consideration of diamond planning is how a diamond will sell; this consideration is unique to the type of manufacturer. While a certain cutting plan may yield a better value, a different plan may yield diamonds that will sell sooner, providing an earlier return on the investment.
Cleaving is the separation of a piece of diamond rough into separate pieces, to be finished as separate gems. Sawing is the use of a diamond laser to cut the diamond rough into separate pieces. Bruting is the art of cutting a diamond round. In the modern era diamonds are rounded using either a laser. Industrial diamonds can be used for bruting a diamond round. Modern computer software measures the roundness of each diamond and "Ideal Cut" diamonds have to round within a 10th of a millimeter to qualify as an excellent cut diamond. Diamond polishing is the final polishing of the diamond. In a diamond factory one would find a diamond "Crossworker" who first places the main facets on a diamond; this is done to ensure maximum weight and best angles for the specific shape of diamond. After initial crossworking is complete, the diamond is finalized by smoothing the main facets by the crossworker, known as polishing the diamond. After the main facets have been polished by the crossworker, the final facets are polished onto the diamond by a "Brillianteer."
The facets added are the stars and bottom halves known as upper and lower girdle facets. The final stage
