such as Dericke Anthony, Affabel Partridge, Peter Trender, and Nicolas
Herrick,[22] the father of the poet Robert Herrick, who makes many a
telling use of the colors and charm of precious stones and pearls in
his dainty poems. To these must be added Sir John Spilman, of German
birth, who made many jewels at the royal command.

[Footnote 22: H. Clifford Smith, "Jewellery", London, 1908, pp. 219,
220, 301.]

We should remember that for the cutting of precious stones steam-power
was not then available, "man-power" being employed. A large turning
wheel was pushed around by a man holding a bar extending from it. The
motion of this large wheel was transmitted to other smaller ones. The
number of revolutions per minute hardly exceeded a few hundred, while
in modern times a speed of from 2000 to 2500 revolutions per minute
is attained. The diamond cutting industry was largely in the hands of
Jews in Lisbon.

The gem-cutting processes were not greatly modified for many years
after Shakespeare's death, so that a representation of the wheel and
mill used in 1750 gives a fairly good general idea of the _modus
operandi_. The large wooden wheel, whose axis is the second pillar
within the frame, is bent, and makes an elbow under the wheel to
receive the impulsion of a bar that serves instead of a turn-handle.
On the right side of the frame, where the boy stands, is the
turn-handle which sets the wheel in motion by means of the elbow of
its axis. So that if the wooden wheel be twenty times larger than the
iron one, a hundred turns of the larger wheel will cause a thousand
revolutions of the smaller one. The method of holding the diamond in
place over the iron wheel, when in motion, so that it presses upon the