The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-03-04
II . p J F-sss5ff5E
Artificial diamonds.

a l.
It is not Of the experiments of scien-
tific chemists that the public need be-
ware in the matter Of artificial gems,
but of the cunning workmen of Paris,
Brussels and the purlieus of Soho,
London. 1t is not pretended that any
serious frauds are perpetrated by the
aid of the well known "strass" or
"paste'' diamonds, a recognized arti-
Gle of commerce in this as in the last
century, and worn. even by day, by
many vain persons in apparent uncon-
sciousness that their harmless deception
is easily detected in sunlight by the
naked eye. Sham rubes and emeralds
made of $ strass," colored with purple
Of cassius or oxide Of copper, and sap
phires owing their hue to oxide of &C.
bait, are also net ap&to deceive any but
the most unpractieed eye i SO the lapi-
Diary who works "with intent to de-
ceive, makes him " doublet" or a
"triplet,' the"latter being considered
the highest form of his peculiar art.
The s'triplet'' is. in fact, sandwich
stone, of which the Outer slices are
made Of rock crysta1 and the
middle piece Of colored glass or
composition. The emerald or sap
phire thus constructed is of fine
color, and, when mounted, likely to
impose on all but experts. In mount
ing his sham sapphire, which may be
worth from thirty to fifty shillings, the
workman conceals the double joint at
the 6 girdle I" of the stone, and thus
presents two surfaces, both of which
resist the file-the common test Of
precious stones among those least &C
qua.nted with them. When the sapphire
is set in the middle of a ring the too
cunning operator sets real diamond
worth four or five pounds sterling On
either side of it. Having now laid out
twelve or fourteen pounds sterling upon
his venture, he betakes h mself to, the
seaside, if it be summer time, or to
the country town in winter, and, finding
himself suddenly short of money,
essays to dispose Of his ring, which, it
is unnecessary to say, was given him by
his mother. He undergoes great grief
at being compelled to part with such
precious relic, but has no choice,
and therefore confides it to a newly
made friend-who thinks it bargain
to get ring worth eighty pounds
sterling for forty pounds sterling-or
else tries his hand on the more difficult
parsonage, the country pawnbroker,
who, seeing the diamonds to be real,
and, having tested the. sapphire, is now
and then taken in by the reduced foreign
gentleman, the exile in temporary
straits, or by his more fashy English
confederate. Tricks. of this kind have
made timorous people shy of all stones
but diamonds, which not many years
ago were frequently bought as safe
and profitable investment. But since
the influx of African diamonds, some of
which are of such fine size and quality
as to sell for three thousand or four
thousand pounds sterling apiece, the
confidence of investors has received a
rude shock, and purchases are not like
ly to be accelersted@until the fear of the
last chemical discovery has passed
away. Yet, should even the particles
made by Mr.. McTear prove as good as
he thinks them, the value of fine gems
is not likely to be affected, unless, in
deed, he should succeed in excelling
the experiments of Wohler and Deyille,
not only as to quality, but as to size. -
London Datiy Nescs. - ss