Diamonds and Precious Stones

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Excerpt from Diamonds and Precious Stones: Their History, Value, and Distinguishing Characteristics, With Simple Tests for Their IdentificationAt the time that the African diamond'fields were dis covered there was only one diamond cutter in London. Dutchmen were accordingly engaged to work in London from Monday morning till Friday sunset, and they were 1 to receive � per week each man. There was a very large supply of rough diamonds to be cut, so they struck several times successfully for higher wages. They would allow no person to be in the room that they worked in, being afraid the secrets of their art might be discovered. At lest they demanded � per week each man, when they were dis charged and English precious gem cutter-aware put at the I work. At first they were only able after a deal of trouble to cut a class of diamond in one month which they could 1 now cut in about four days. As soon as it was clearly proved that Englishmen had once more gained the art, the l Worshipful Company of Turners had their attention called 3 to it by their Past Masters, the late Professor Tennant, 3 the Queen's Mineralogist, and Mr. John 'jones.' They at once decided to give English cutters every encourage i ment, and have, with the' valuable assistance of the Baroness and Mr. Burdett-coutts, who are both members of this company, offered money awards in competition against the Dutch for the best cut diamonds. After several contests the Englishmen gained the first prize and most' of the others. Great credit and thanks are due to this company and the Baroness and Mr. Burdett - Coutts for giving such valuable assistance to this industry.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.