lets," or "bezils." We thus
have above the girdle, thirty-three facets: 8 cross, 8 skill, 4 quoin, 8
star, 1 table, and 4 templets.

Reversing the stone and again commencing at the girdle, we have eight
"skill facets," sometimes called the lower skill facets, the bases of
which are on the girdle, their outer sides forming the bases of eight
cross facets, the apexes of which meet on the extremities of the
horizontal line, as in those above the girdle. If the basal lines of
these cross facets, where they join the sides of the skill facets, are
extended to the peak, or narrow end of the stone, these lines, together
with the sides of the cross facets, will form four five-sided facets,
called the "pavilions"; the spaces between these four pavilions have
their ends nearest the girdle formed by the inner sides of the skill
facets, and of these spaces, there will, of course, be four, which also
are five-sided figures, and are called "quoins," so that there are eight
five-sided facets--four large and four narrow--their bases forming a
square, with a small portion of each corner cut away; the bases of the
broader pavilions form the four sides, whilst the bases of the four
narrower quoins cut off the corners of the square, and this flat
portion, bounded by the eight bases, is called the "culet," but more
commonly "collet." So that below the girdle, we find twenty-five facets:
8 cross, 8 skill, 4 pavilion, 4 quoin, and 1 collet.

These, with the 33 of the crown, make 58, which is the usual number of
facets in a brilliant, though this varies with the character, quality,
and size of the diamond. For instance, though this number is considered
the best for normal stones, specially large ones often have more,
otherwise there is danger of their appearing dull, and it requires a
vast amount of skill and experience to decide upon the particular number
and size of the facets that will best display the fire and brilliance of
a large stone, for it is obvious that if, after months of cutting and
polishing, it is found that a greater or smaller number of facets ought
to have been allowed, the error cannot be retrieved without considerable
loss, and probable ruin to the stone. In the case of the Cullinan
diamonds, the two largest of which are called the Stars of Africa, 74
facets were cut in the largest portion, while in the next largest the
experts decided to make 66, and, as already pointed out, these stones
are, up to the present time, the m