Planning of a Diamond

a diamond takes shape

Before a rough stone becomes a beautiful, highly polished diamond with gleaming facets, it is a conundrum. Ripe with possibility, the diamond cut it will embody and the luxury diamond watch it will eventually be is yet to be decided. It can be a thrilling process, but also a highly time-consuming and complex one.

in a bygone era

    In the past, skilled diamond specialists would come to the diamonds once they had been identified and sorted, and spend days studying the diamond, calculating the best possible diamond to be carved from the rough stone. It was highly precarious work; any miscalculation or error could lead to hundreds of thousands of pounds of wastage, and the potential of the stone would be lost forever, never to be recovered. Even now, with impeccable planning, a huge proportion of the diamond will inevitably be lost.

in today’s Modern times

       Now special mapping machines have taken over, but they are still focused on the same factors: maximising profit, identifying and avoiding inclusions and flaws which must not be in the end product, and the popularity of diamond shapes at the time. Of course, for Backes & Strauss, who delight customers by combining their specialisation in brilliant ideal-cut diamonds with unique watches, this is superfluous.

     Most importantly, the largest possible diamond must be brought to life from the rough, and it must have optimum proportions and clarity. The high-tech machines will efficiently scan the stones, spotting the impurities and suggesting shapes and facets which will work best and fulfil the criteria above. It will present accurate measurements as a guide, and then produce 3D models which will aid the complex and important decision process. The importance of planning a diamond cannot be over-estimated, as once the plan has been finalised and the diamond is ready to be sawed into shape, its fate is fixed. Once the diamonds are set on their path, a custom Backes & Strauss watch can also begin to take shape.