e two diamonds
are now called "The Stars of Africa." Both these stones, but especially
the larger, completely overshadow the notorious Koh-i-nur, and
notwithstanding the flaw which appeared in the original stone, every one
of the resulting pieces, irrespective of weight, is without the
slightest blemish and of the finest colour ever known, for the great
South African diamond is of a quality never even approached by any
existing stone, being ideally perfect.

It requires a somewhat elaborate explanation to make clear the various
styles of cut without illustrations. They are usually divided into two
groups, with curved, and with flat or plane surfaces. Of the first, the
curved surfaces, opaque and translucent stones, such as the moonstone,
cat's-eye, etc., are mostly cut _en cabochon_, that is, dome-shaped or
semi-circular at the top, flat on the underside, and when the garnet is
so cut it is called a carbuncle. In strongly coloured stones, while the
upper surface is semi-circular like the cabochon, the under surface is
more or less deeply concave, sometimes following the curve of the upper
surface, the thickness of the stone being in that case almost parallel
throughout. This is called the "hollow" cabochon. Other stones are cut
so that the upper surface is dome-shaped like the last two, but the
lower is more or less convex, though not so deep as to make the stone
spherical. This is called the "double" cabochon.

A further variety of cutting is known as the _goutte de suif_, or the
"tallow-drop," which takes the form of a somewhat flattened or
long-focus double-convex lens. The more complicated varieties of cut are
those appearing in the second group, or those with plane surfaces. A
very old form is the "rose" or "rosette"; in this the extreme upper
centre, called the "crown," or "star," is usually composed of six
triangles, the apexes of which are elevated and joined together, forming
one point in the centre. From their bases descend a further series of
triangles, the bases and apexes of which are formed by the bases and
lower angles of the upper series. This lower belt is called the "teeth,"
under which the surface or base of the stone is usually flat, but
sometimes partakes of a similar shape to the upper surface, though
somewhat modified in form.

Another variety is called the "table cut," and is used for coloured
stones. It has a flat top or "table" of a square or other shape, the
edges of which slope outwards an