The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
It pales in value to the 69.42-carat diamond Richard Burton famously gave to Elizabeth Taylor in the 1960s. But a 35-carat diamond mined in the James Bay Lowlands, and being processed in Sudbury, is setting a record for the largest diamond to be mined, cut and polished in Canada.
The unassuming stone, which uncut is about the size of a small wad of gum, will soon reveal its magnificent sparkle and brilliance under the skilled and gentle touch of a trusted, experienced diamond-cutter.
Uri Ariel, president and chief executive officer of Vancouverbased Crossworks, said the stone comes close in size to the famous Taylor-Burton diamond. While the latter was of a higher calibre, Burton wouldn’t have “offended” Taylor by presenting her with this stone, Ariel told a small group in the boardroom at Crossworks’ downtown Sudbury plant.
The stone was mined three years ago at De Beers’ Victor Diamond Mine. Ariel put it aside until three or four months ago when he was confident his company could process it to its best advantage.
Cutting was to start late Wednesday afternoon, after he left on his return flight to Vancouver, because he didn’t want to put more pressure on the cutter than there already is.
A film crew is documenting the processing, which would take a skilled cutter, working 10 hours a day, a month and a half to complete.
It may take longer because the valuable rock will only be handled by three employees in the company.
The film will accompany the cut diamond on an international tour where it will promote the quality of Ontario diamonds and the skill of Crossworks’ diamond cutters, and promote retailers selected to sell Victor diamonds.
Victor diamonds are arguably the best in the world, Ariel told Sudbury Mayor Marianne Matichuk and The Sudbury Star, who were invited to view the raw stone before it was cut.
But first Ariel and Dylan Dix, in charge of marketing and external relations for Crossworks, wanted to show it off.
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