Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-03-23
Artificial Pearls

Many persons have no doubt been fire.
quently struck with the great beauty of
artificial Or imitation pearls. Those who
make 1t their business to produce such
articles of ornamentation have attained
to high degree of perfection in their
art; SO much SO that in 1862, at the
London exhibition, Frenchman who
was an adept at their manufacture ex-
hlbited row of large real and imitation
pearls alternately, and, without close in
spectiOn, we are assured it would have
been impossible even for a Judge to have
selected the real from the unreal. Some
TRANSACTIONS from French and German
works on this manufacture have recently
been communicated to Land and Water,
and from these it appears that the art of
making imitation pearls is ascribed to
one Joaquin, chaplet and rosary manu-
facturer at Passy, who lived about $780,
Noticing that the water after cleaning
some white fish (Lezbciscahs oIbat1Yaus).
a species of dace, was Of a silvery appear
ance, he gradually collected the sedi-
ment, and with this substance-to which
he gave the name OF essence d'orient-
and with thin glue like parchment, he
lined the glass beads of which he framed
his rosaries, and afterward filed them
with wax. The method of making the
round bead is by heating one end
which has been closed-of glass tube,
which then, when blown into two or
three times, expands into a globular
form. The workmen then separates the
bead, places the end which has been Leat-
ed on wire, and heats the other end
This process is called bordering or edg-
ing. The best pearls are made in the
same way, the holes of the tubes being
gradually reduced by heat to the size of
those Of the real pearls, the workman
taking each bead on inserted wire, and,
by continually turning them round in the
flame OF the lamp used, they become SO
true as. to be strung as evenly as the ORR
entail pearls.
The process of coloring the pearl is
commenced by lining the interior of the
ball with a delicate layer Of perfectly
hmpid and colorless parchment glue;
and before it is quite dry the essence of
orient is introduced by means of slen-
der glass blow-pipe. It is then allowed
to dry; the pearl is filed with wax, and
If intended for necklace is pierced
through the wax with a red-hot needle.
The essence Of orient, as it is called, is
the chief ingredient in the manufacture
of pearl. Itisa very valuable substance,
and is obtained from the fish above
named by rubbing them rather roughly
In basin OF pure water, so as to remove
the scales; the whole is then strained
through linen cloth and left for several
days to settle, when the water is drawn
off. The sediment forms the essence re-
ferred to. It requires from seventeen to
eighteen thousand fish to obtain about a
pound of this substance! Besides the
French imitation pearls, as those above
described are called, there are the Ro-
man pearls, which are made of wax, COW
cred with kind of pearly lustre. But
these do not look so well as the French
pearls, while, in heated room, they
are apt to soften and stick to the skin.
A very extensive trade is now done in
the manufacture and sale of French ar
tifcial pearls.