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Re cutting a diamond

John P

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Lol @ ceg

it's an interesting hypothetical tho...the cullinan diamond was cut into a bunch of smaller pueces, maybe an expert can weigh in on why thay decision was made...
Cosmetic improvement. It was also a more cavalier time period.

The original Cullinan was riddled with inclusions. It was also massive. It's rumored that the royals wanted a diamond of high quality to be mounted into the Imperial Crown, but one that would not strain the wearer's back. Whether embellishment or not, the 530 carat Cullinan I (aka the Great Star of Africa) was placed into a sceptre. The Cullinan II (Second Star) was a more 'petite' 317 carats and that's the one they mounted into the Majestic crown.

In more recent times Laurence Graff acquired the 35.5 carat Der Blaue Wittelsbach and re-cut it to remove flaws and improve the color. Many gemologists and historians were not happy with that change, claiming it altered a piece of history. At 4 carats lighter it's now called the Wittelsbach-Graff, bearing his name, which makes the protesters unhappier still. Such decisions for unique and historic diamonds are always controversial in modern times.

Don't worry, not all diamond cutters seek to 'improve' on history. I'm regularly approached by owners of estate pieces, wondering if they should have some older diamond re-cut. For Lopsy Fugs and similarly afflicted friends the answer may well be yes. But I also get to see many specimens which were fashioned with care and historic charm. In such cases I inform the owner that the diamond is telling an invaluable story from another time. Please...let her keep speaking.
 

AV_

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@Paul-Antwerp 'Theoretical value destruction' - funny that!

Yes, I would so enjoy being a fly on the wall at a fun rough planning session @Texas Leaguer - the messier the better; could bring in a crystallography book & never mention it too...

Thinking out loud
 
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AV_

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@John Pollard The star brilliant design still makes sense - without the history; I call it 'Tradition' instead.
 

Rockdiamond

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In the ‘90’s I worked for a South African site holder. They told me that in the ‘70’s they did saw larger pieces of rough into smaller sizes because they were easier to sell. It was a different business and different world back then.
 

Karl_K

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In the ‘90’s I worked for a South African site holder. They told me that in the ‘70’s they did saw larger pieces of rough into smaller sizes because they were easier to sell. It was a different business and different world back then.
For decades De Beers did not have scanners in front of the crushers so who knows how many huge diamonds were crushed.
There could have been a lot of Cullinan size diamonds crushed over the years.
When De Beers sold the mine the new owners added xray scanners.
Does anyone know if they are running xray scanners in front of the crushers on the modern mines in Canada and other places?
 

ctsamg

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This thread remains me of the member who thought he had found diamonds even when he had several experts explain to him that he didn't.

Is it possible your friend has "diamonds" that are just too large to sell?
 

Texas Leaguer

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@Paul-Antwerp 'Theoretical value destruction' - funny that!

Yes, I would so enjoy being a fly on the wall at a fun rough planning session @Texas Leaguer - the messier the better; could bring in a crystallography book & never mention it too...

Thinking out loud
There are plenty of cases where planning discussions for important diamonds went on for months (even years) before the diamond was put on the wheel. I am also sure that in some of those cases there were very heated arguments over the direction. Yes, it would have been entertaining to sit in on some of them!
Modern analytical tools and the demands of modern industry economics have shortened these timeframes. But the owners still proceed VERY cautiously, and in some cases there is bound to be high levels of anxiety!
 

AV_

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@Texas Leaguer That sounds like heaven... (and the research maters in my real life too). I have noticed familiar details in the descriptions of tricky rough Yoram F. is writing (exceptional toughness, internal strain) & I let you guess how enthralling the foggy, included & crooked crystals are to yours truly. I am working on a case of crystal growth allowing exceptional distribution of defects; feel free to give me something to think about.
 
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