DIAMONDS ARE A TEXAN’S BEST FRIEND

Texans often have fancied themselves as being a cut above the rest of the world. Now, at last, there’s proof. Starting this month, Texas jewelry buffs can get a gem cut in the shape of our state: the Texas-cut diamond.

Chadiam Diamond Manufacturing, a corporation based in Belgium, decided several months ago that a diamond could be much more than a traditional stone set in a few prongs on a ring or a pendant. The company believed that the basic cuts of diamonds- round, square, marquis, pear and emerald-were limiting their marketing efforts. Daniel Nejman, the Dallas representative of the company, came up with the idea for the Texas-cut stone. He sold the corporation’s top brass on the idea by explaining that “people here in Texas like gold Texas pendants. Everything that is Texas, they like”

The process of cutting a diamond in the unusual shape was surprisingly simple: The manufacturers programmed a computer to make the cuts. Now that the original design is complete, the only adjustments necessary are for size. The Texas cut will be available in just about any dimension.

For now, Nejman says the company has cut several sample diamonds, but, at least for a while, a customer must order a Texas cut in advance. The special cut will be more expensive than traditional cuts, too. A one-carat D-flawless diamond (the highest quality in color, cut and clarity) costs about $19,500 wholesale; a similar Texas-cut diamond runs about $20,000.

The Jewelry Palace, a local jewelry store that markets the Chadiam diamonds, imports nearly one million of the gems annually, according to owner Francis Meshkin. Chadiam has a patent pending on the Texas cut.