How do jewelers cut and polish diamonds to make diamonds sparkle and dazzle with a brilliant light?

Answer 1

There are 4 types of techniques to cut and polish diamonds: cleaving - when a rough diamond is cut down to a manageable size, after which the cutter cleaves along the diamond's tetrahedral plane. A wax or cement mold holds the diamond in place while the cutter carves a sharp groove along the plane. Sawing: where there is no plane of weakness, diamonds have to be cut in a way that cannot be done with cleaving. During the sawing step, the cutter decides which parts of the diamond will become the table and the girdle. Then, he proceeds to cutting. Bruiting: this is the technique that gives diamonds their shape. When diamonds are cut by hand, the technique is called bruiting. Here the cutter relies on the hardness of a diamond as his tool. A small stick like instrument that is filled with cement at the tip is used a hold a diamond. The diamond is inserted in cement with just one corner exposed. Using one of these sticks in each hand, the cutter rubs the exposed diamond parts together to bruit them. Polishing - to create the diamond's finished look, the cutter places it onto the arm above a rotating polishing wheel. The wheel is coated with an abrasive diamond powder that smoothes the diamond as it is pressed against the wheel.

Answer 2

This is called facetting and polishing. Highly specialized and precise machines grind and then polish flat faces called facets (the most popular cut is the standard round, with over 50 facets) at very specific angles which are designed to capture and reflect the most light.

Answer 3

Diamonds are the hardest thing found on Earth. Due to this, a diamond can only be cut with special lasers.