memories of a lost diamond

[Jbailey]

This is not a great photo but it is all that remains of my 1/16 inch octaheadral diamond crystal. It was a 40 some year member of my mineral collection.



I got this one shot of it at 100X. It was underexposed somewhat. I tried to reposition it a bit and it "tiddly winked" off the slide and onto a carpeted floor!
With a side arm flask, some flexible tubing and a Shop Vac. I rigged a micro vacuum and after two hours on my knees, I retrieved my diamond.
This time I put a piece of double sided adhesive tape on the slide and attached the diamond to it. However I didn't get a single exposure. The diamond must have liked the carpet and jumped off again!
Two more hours of micro vacuuming failed to locate the diamond.
Oh well, Here's the photo showing the natural etch pits characteristic of diamond crystals.

[rjlittlefield]

Fascinating picture -- I had no idea what diamond in its native state looks like.

The story is sad, though. I've lost a lot of stuff that way, but nothing so valuable.

--Rik

[Jbailey]

Rik:

Thanks for the input. While I enjoyed showing my "treasure" to visitors, the diamond was more of a curiosity than a treasure. I kept it in a small glass vial for safe handling and punctuated my showing of it by relating that the diamond cost me $1.25 from a dealer!

I have to search around for another.

Jim

[rjlittlefield]

Ah, but there is more to treasure than $$. What I found saddening was the part about "40 some year member of my mineral collection". Losing $$, that's just annoying!

--Rik

[Jbailey]

Rik:

You're right. That's why I spent so many hours micro vacuuming the carpet in my office to try to get it back. I wanted to get a better photo of it, too.

Maybe I'll buy another one and spread a paper sheet on the floor before risking losing another.

Jim