Lodewyk van Bercken

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Lodewyk van Bercken (also known in French as Louis de Berquem) was a mid- to late-15th century Flemish^[1] jeweller 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 Bercken was born in Bruges.^[1] He is credited with inventing 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.^[1]