MEERA MURUGESAN speaks to a master cutter whose diamond-cutting skills have taken him all over the world.

McHardy demonstrating how diamonds are ground and polished.

HOW many of us can say that we spent our childhood surrounded by diamonds?

In that sense Brian McHardy is unique. He is in constant contact with these precious gems and they were part and parcel of his family life.

McHardy, a master diamond cutter, comes from a long line of men involved in the diamond industry.

Born and raised in South Africa, both his father and grandfather worked for De Beers, a name synonymous with diamonds, while his great-grandfather was the general manager of the Premier Mine in South Africa, where the famous Cullinan diamond was discovered in 1905.
As a teenager, McHardy used to follow his father, a diamond classifier, to work and was spellbound by the sight of tables piled with diamond crystals.

“I still remember how fascinated I was by their appearance and structure. Being around diamonds and living near the mines certainly influenced my choice of a career, or at least laid the groundwork for it,” said McHardy.

He was in Kuala Lumpur recently courtesy of Habib Jewels in conjunction with its Diamond Fest 2008.

In his family, almost all events and memories are closely linked to diamonds.

McHardy recalls a photograph of his great-grandfather, who was originally from Scotland, holding the famous Cullinan diamond when it was discovered. The stone filled his hand, weighing 3,106 carats as a rough diamond crystal. Parts of that famous diamond can be found today in the British Crown Jewels.

Crafting the perfect diamond takes both precision and time and in the world, there are fewer than 100 such artisans or master cutters. McHardy is one of them.

A man with a deep passion for his craft, McHardy has, since 1999, been with Hearts on Fire, a company based in Boston, the United States. It has a reputation for creating the world’s most perfectly cut diamonds.

As part of his work, McHardy travels the world to demonstrate the art and science of cutting diamonds to the most exacting standards in the industry.

Many of us only see the finished product as a sparkling, perfectly cut precious stone, but for McHardy, the challenge is in “unlocking this hidden beauty”.

It’s a job that requires patience and perseverance and certainly a love for the craft itself. It can take between 40-48 hours from start to finish for a cutter to work on a one-carat diamond.

McHardy started training as a cutter in the late Sixties by working as an apprentice for five years under an experienced cutter.

“It’s the best way to learn, one-on-one from someone who’s experienced. It has to be very hands-on because this is not something you can pick up from books.”

It may be painstaking and even tedious work, but for the cutter, it’s a magical and beautiful process, because he is able to take a rough crystal and turn it into a spectacular gem, explained McHardy.

One of the biggest misconceptions that many people have is that the weight of a diamond is a good measure of the stone, said McHardy.

So deeply has this belief been indoctrinated over the last 130-odd years that most brides looking for a diamond ring would first ask about its carat, he added. They may rarely mention clarity, cut or colour when asked what they’re looking for.

But the way a diamond is cut actually accounts for almost 50 per cent of its value. The other Cs, “clarity” and “colour”, are things which are inherent in the stone but the cut gives it the sparkle and brightness that makes one stone far removed from another.

“We at Hearts on Fire are trying to dispel this perception that weight is everything because we cut diamonds the way they are supposed to be cut.

“There is actually a formula that has been around for about 87 years on how diamonds should be cut, but most diamond cutting factories don’t adhere to this formula, because if they do, they lose more in weight. And we have been indoctrinated to believe that the more a diamond weighs, the better it is,” said McHardy.

Now based in Seattle, McHardy, a father of two, spends whatever leisure time he has on his ranch, where he raises horses and enjoys riding.

His daughter has followed his footsteps and entered the industry as a bench jeweller, while his son is a motorcycle mechanic working for a large dealership in the US.

As McHardy is also involved in training, he travels extensively around the world to retail stores to educate their employees about what makes a Hearts on Fire diamond unique and special.

“My passport is always full. I said in the beginning that I would only do this until my passport is full, but the job has become so much a part of myself that I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he said with a smile.