Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 23/05) - There was only one and it was given away.The first CentSation diamond, designed and cut by Yellowknife's Mike Botha, was the grand prize given away at the Geoscience Forum trade show last week.

The stone, sourced from Ekati, was purchased from Arslanian Cutting Works by the City of Yellowknife.

Through his company Embee Diamond Technologies, Botha worked on his new design on and off for the past eight years.

It took him 16 hours to complete the polishing of the prototype. The finished product has 101 facets, compared with the standard 71.

"There are other designs that have 101 facets, but with different configurations," he said. "More facets isn't necessarily better."

There is a balancing act to maintain the brilliance and light dispersion, he said.

"It's like sun shining off water, fine waves can increase the brilliance."

The CentSation diamond is a decagonally-oriented, round-brilliant, allowing for facets to be cut in multiples of 10, compared with the octagonal orientation of a traditional round-brilliants allowing for multiples of eight, he said.

The finished 0.61 carat stone has a retail value of approximately $5,000, he said.

Once registration papers are in hand in another month or so, the design will be available for market.

"I would like Canadian companies to benefit," he said.As to whether the diamond industry is ready for a new design, Botha is optimistic.

"The diamond industry moves slowly," he said. "The popular Princess cut took many years to be popularized with the public."

Bob May of Keewatin Air was the winner. With Christmas not too far away, he wasn't sure what he was going to do with the stone, but someone's is sure to be a nice one.