Diamond Cutting - Cutting Process

Cutting Process

It is possible only because the hardness of diamond varies widely according to the direction in which one is trying to cut or grind.

A simplified round brilliant cut process includes the following stages:

• Sawing the rough stone.
• Table setting where one facet is created. The table facet is then used to attach the stone into a dop (a lapidary tool holding gemstones for cutting or polishing).
• Bruting the girdle.
• Blocking four main pavilion facets.
• Transferring to another dop in order to rotate the stone.
• Blocking four main crown facets.
• Cutting and polishing all pavilion facets.
• Transferring to another dop.
• Cutting and polishing all crown facets.

This is just one, although a fairly common way of creating a round brilliant cut. The actual process also includes many more stages depending on the size and quality of the rough stone. For example, bigger stones are first scanned to get the three-dimensional shape, which is then used to find the optimal usage. The scanning may be repeated after each stage and bruting may be done in several steps, each bringing the girdle closer to the final shape.