[Jewelry making - Article 01009] - Re: [Orchid] 2500 BC diamonds for polishing

[coralnut]

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Laurie,

    I find your message and the accompanying artical very interesting. 
    Especially because I have over the past 40 years had periodic
    references to the Chinese  use of diamond in their lapidary from
    very early times.  I have never been able to find the specific
    text(s) that refer to this practice but in discussing the subject
    with some of my old Chinese friends several have made reference to a
    'K'ungCh'iehTao....  The Tao means knife but I have never found the
    characters for K'ungCh'ieh to confirm them. (Note: K'ungCh'ieh may
    also be a reference to the green color of the Kingfisher bird to
    describe some of the finest jades.  At times it was used in place of
    'Yu' the common character for jade.  Thus they may have been
    referring to a 'jade cutting knife or implement'!) 

    The ancient Chinese who practiced lapidary were part of a closed
    society that for the most part did not document the secrets of their
    trade (with a few exceptions) nor shared it with outsiders.  So,
    except for the later dynasties, most of the ancient tradecrafts were
    lost. 

    While I never had an opportunity to study ancient Chinese carvings
    as closely as Mr. Lu, I have handled hundreds if not thousands and
    have always been mystified by the accuracy of the work not to
    mention the velvety polish.   Now, Jade is not all that hard and by
    long hard work could proabably have been carved  using quartz or
    garnet and polished with mixtures of naturally occurring oxides. 
    But some of the agates and harder stones I have seen (such as
    corundum signets and seals) are a totally different story. 

    A fascinating study to be sure!  Thanks for sharing it with us. 

    Cheers from Don at The Charles Belle Studio in SOFL where simple
    elegance IS fine jewelry! dcdietz AT comcast.net

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