Lodewyk van Berken - Biography

Lodewyk van Berken was a mid- to late-15th century Flemish Jewishjeweller and diamond cutter, renowned in the industry for inventing the scaif. The device revolutionized the diamond cutting industry and contributed to increased popularity of diamonds.

Van Berken was born in Bruges. In 1456 he allegedly invented the scaif, a polishing wheel infused with a mixture of olive oil and diamond dust. With the scaif, it became possible to polish all the facets of the diamond symmetrically at angles that best reflected the light.

Charles the Bold became the patron of van Berken and in the 1470s commissioned him to cut a 137 carat (27.4 g) stone that later became known as the Florentine Diamond.

Legacy

A bronze statue of van Berken, holding a diamond in his hand, stands in Antwerp's diamond district.

External links

• Diamond cutting. Thank you Lodewyk van Berken by Jeffrey Blancq. 21 April 2006