Word: diamond
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...which was first produced in 1926, is not perhaps the Hope Diamond of the twenties musical--not exactly, the specimen one would choose if one were putting together a museum exhibit on the subject. But it does have its transcendent moments, and the time in between is at last, steadily enjoyable. The Loeb's production has been mounted faithfully in the true twenties style with a vaguely art, does set lavish costumes and lost of energetic dance numbers. Director Josh Rubins has carried this historical faithfulness over in the acting style, too: the broad, farcical characterizations second forced at, first...
...Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but for the police they are a major nuisance. Once they are stolen, they are among the easiest of valuables to sell. Even if they are recovered, the four Cs of the diamond business-cut, clarity, carat and color-provide only the roughest means of identification. In fact, identification is sometimes so difficult that police have occasionally been forced to return diamonds to a known thief because there was no proof that they were stolen goods. Now, Israeli scientists think they have solved the gem identity crisis with a system that...
Shtrikman and his Weizmann team soon developed a simple diamond-identifying device. It consists of a small helium-neon laser that directs a beam of light through a pinhole in a sheet of Polaroid film and onto a diamond. As the laser's uniform light waves hit the "table" (or top facet) of the gem, some of them are reflected. Others enter the diamond, circle around inside it and are refracted at varying angles. The result is a unique pattern of spots on the film that looks like a bright, star-cluttered sky; in more advanced versions...
...Faith. Now manufactured commercially by Kulso Ltd., the machine (cost: about $3,500) can produce an identifying print in two minutes. Shtrikman believes that the patterns, which show brilliancy and quality of a cut stone as well, can also be used to assess a diamond's value. That innovation could have even greater impact on gem transactions. Until now, the only real assurance diamond traders have had when they concluded a deal was the traditional act of faith between them: a handshake and the exchange of the Hebrew words "mazal u-brocha" (luck and a blessing...
...another case, three bachelor civil servants got into the prized sanctuary of the U.S. embassy compound through another man's ruse. A U.S. embassy guard, they say, began offering places inside for $5,000. A woman next to them produced her diamond bracelet and rings. The offer was accepted, and when the gates were opened, the three also sprinted in. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese police officer, who was equally unauthorized, showed up at the embassy and had his own driver help lift his wife, nine children and then himself over the wall...