Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 17/02) - A unique diamond design is sparkling in the North. The Canadian Queen is the artistic creation of an Armenian diamond polisher.

"Before I started working at my new design I noticed there were a lot of round stones. I wanted to have a new cut of diamond," said diamond cutting expert Gurgen Aleksanyan. He started experimenting with new designs about three years ago. After about 10 tries he thinks he has a perfect gem.

"I called this diamond the Canadian Queen because it was born here," he said.

One of the key concerns when it comes to diamond cutting is saving as much of the rough stone as possible. It is important that after polishing the weight and clarity are maximized.

"This new diamond is the first to be invented in the Northwest Territories," said Aleksanyan, who was also an architect and artist.

He works at Yellowknife's Arslanian Cutting Works Ltd., a diamond polishing plant. During the experimentation stage he paid for the rough stones with his own money. He didn't say how much the Armenian trials cost, but totalled the Canadian prototype at $3,000.

The gem is square with gently rounded corners. It has 74 facets. "A round stone has 57 facets," he said. He is trying to patent his design.

He looked down at the stone through a magnifying loupe. "You can see hearts in the reflection of the stone," he said.

Aleksanyan has big hopes for the new design. He wants to teach others how to cut the design, and he's looking for investors. With 80 per cent of the diamond market in North America the sky is the limit.

"If I get $1 million then it costs $4.8 million to open a diamond-polishing factory."