Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 21/99) - As Yellowknife strives to carve out a niche in the global diamond industry, resident Mick Brown strives to carve out niches in, well, diamonds.

Hunched over his work table at the new Sirius Diamonds facility on Friday, Brown was concentrating on adding just the right touches that would transform a rough stone into a diamond setting for an engagement ring -- a delicate task.

"If you're not cutting properly, it might internally shatter, or explode as they say, and if you go too far, you can lose thousands of dollars," he said.

But to his credit, Brown wasn't sweating. The 19-year-old is one of eight Northerners who recently completed a five-month cutting and polishing program organized by Sirius, the GNWT and Vancouver Community College in Sydney, B.C.

"I figured it was a good career move," Brown said. "It's something different and something no one else had been into, and it gives me the chance to stay in the North."

Brown is not alone in his thinking. His buddy from Sir John Franklin high school, Jordan Groenewegen, sat beside him Friday as the pair "blocked" diamonds -- carving out some of the first facets on the stones before handing them over for the refining, "brillianting" stage.

And while with the training and the help of Belgian master cutter Dave Bajkowski, Brown is now comfortable working with diamonds and diamond terminology, he said this wasn't always the case.

"I had no idea as to what diamond cutting involved," he said. "And there are a lot of misconceptions about diamonds -- some people think you just work with a chisel and just knock them out, but there's a lot more involved."

In truth, the cutters' instruments and techniques are much more delicate -- they have to be.

"I worked on one diamond that was worth $12,000 in the rough stage," Brown said, "and that was sort of an incentive to take it easy."

Brown said the business of creating diamond jewelry involves more accuracy than artistry and demands a level of concentration that can leave him mentally exhausted at the end of a shift. But he assured he enjoys his new profession and has hopes of a brilliant future.

"It's hard in its ways -- but the time goes by fast, and if you do a good job, you feel rewarded," he said, "and my eyesight's actually getting better and it's constantly getting easier."