Ever seen a rough diamond?  This is what the look like before the cutting and polishing process begins.  Gem quality diamonds are usually distributed to one of the main cutting and trading centres in Antwerp, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, New York, Johannesburg, China or Thailand.  Although some of the polishing process is computerised, most of the work is still performed by hand.  Firstly, the cutter uses cleaving, sawing or laser cutting to separate the original rough into smaller, more workable pieces.  Then, the girldler uses a process called Bruting, this grinds away the edges of the stone and provides its outline shape.  Faceting follows, usually in two steps.  The first 18 facets (table, culet, bezel and pavillion of a stone) are cut and polished by the blocker.  The brillianteer cuts and polishes the final 40 facets, including the star, upper girdle and lower girdle.  Finally, the cut gem is boiled in acids to remove dust and oil.  Once polished, most diamonds are sold and traded in the diamond bourses around the world.  At this point, the polished diamonds are ready to be set into finished pieces of jewellery.