Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-09-10
IDENTIFYING PRECIOUS STONES.

a witness IN Court recently testified that
there was at Tiffany's wax impression of
diamond alleged to have been stolen. A
reporter of the Sun asked st Tiffany & Co. s
for information as to their methods of re.
eording and identifying diamonds.
! +. j. Andrews, Who has charge OF the
! diamond department, said that the state
ment was erroneous. eve do not take
wax impressions of diamonds" he said,
except when we send an order abroad for
diamond of special shape in order TO
match one we have. 1t would be very
| hard to describe all the facets of diamond
so that it could be matched exactly, but by
taking wax impression we can reproduce
the exact size and shape. Still, wax i'm.
preston would give no idea of color or
purity, and these characteristics make all
the difference in the world IN the value of
precious stones. a diamond as big as a
little pea may be worth $500, or it may be
worth So COO"
How, then, are you able to identity
unset diamonds =
Mr.. Andrews took the reporter into
little glass-inclosed room, and taking some
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of
diamonds out Of a safe, placed them upon
a table covered with black cloth.
Here, now. is diamond" he said,
holding up flashing yellow crystal as big
as a pigeons egg, "that is one of the re-
markabe diamonds OF the world, and could
be identified anywhere. 1t weighs l25
carats and is worth $50, 900. While yellow
diamonds are plentiful, yet there are few
with clear decided tint like this and it
is peculiar in its cutting from the fact that
it has two rows of facets from the girdle, CT
largest circumference of the stone. to the
table, as the fat top of the stoneis called. In
the ordinary style of cutting a brilliant
there is only one row of facets between
girdle and table. Here is diamond"
picking up a brilliant clear as drop of
dew and flashing with colors like RAIN
bow, that weighs only % carats, and is
yet worth 81 500, from the fact that it is
of purest water. A diamond as notable
as this we could possibly identify from its
characteristics. Here is another" picking
up a yellow stone, 90 that weighs nearly as
much, p carats, and yet worth only 1919,
because of it's color. Yellow diamonds are
hard to identify by appearance because
they are so plentiful. Diamonds come Of
all colors, pink, blue and brown being rare
and worth much more than yellow. The
pure white, free from stain or flaw, is the
most valuable of all. Odd colors are so
rare that they afford ready means of
Identification. Here is black diamond,
he said, holding up a large brilliant that
oddly combined perfect transparency with
blackish tint, "that is one of the
largest and best black diamonds in the
world. 1t weighs five carats, and
is worth 81. 500. Now here, picking up
beautiful diamond of clear pink hue, is
a great curiosity that we could readily
identify anywhere. 1t weighs eight carats
less sixteenth, and is worth s., 600. The
color is rare one, and it is exquisitely
pure Here is another extraordinary dia-
mond." He showed large pear-shaped
stone of a cinnamon color. f'That is an
East India gem, and is very old. AL
though it weighs seventeen carats, it is
not worth as much as the smaller pink
brilliant, on account of its color. Its
value is 1000. Such marked stones
as have shown you we could
positively identify by their characteristics.
But there would be no means of identity
ing such stones as these" he said, as he
poured handful of small diamonds on the
table. They were nearly all of off color and
of small size"
How, then, do you avoid mistakes, and |
protect yourself against fraudulent claims
when you take diamonds to set ?"
In the frst-place, we will have nothing |
TO do with paste, no matter what price
might be offered us to set it. Nobody in
the store is allowed to wear a PASTE gem,
and if by mistake paste brilliant is taken
in at the repair counter, it is Immediately
sent back to the owner. That rarely hap
pens. Some time ago. when we refused to
reset stone on the ground that it was
paste, the owner was greatly surprised to
hear that it was not genuine. The lady
investigated the matter, and found that
dishonest servant had removed the dia.
mond and substituted paste gem. She
had never known the difference, although
an expert does not hesitate moment in
pronouncing upon the genuineness of
stone.
"When diamond is brought to u.s."
Mr.. Andrews went on, sit goes imme-
diately into the hands of an expert, who
gives it microscopic scrutiny. 1t is
weighed, any chip or flaw is noted, and all
these facts are recorded, together with a
little diagram indicating the location of the
defects. Then it goes into the workmans
hands. This enables us to be GER
tain that we are returning exact
ly the same diamond that we
take IN. Not one diamond in a
thousand is free from flaws, so that there
are always Identifying characteristics.
People are frequently surprised to find
their diamonds have defects, but it
is often the case that the cutter will
leave in a flaw that can be covered
by the setting, as very frequently the cut
ting out of defect would lose half carat
or more of weight"
"Will diamonds chip off in wearing?"
Every rarely. You may lay diamond
on an anvil and strike it with hammer
and it will not break. At the same time
diamond has grain, and blow that hap
pens to strike it along the line of cleavage
may clip it. Most of the defects in stones
are natural Perfect pearls are even rarer
than perfect diamonds. | recollect that
dealer once brought to us a collection of
pearls valued at $3.50, 600, and there was
only one absolutely perfect one in the lot
The rarity of perfect pearls makes us con-
slider this one Of our most extraordinary
pieces of jewelry."
He showed pearl necklace, the pearls
ranging in size from peas to tilberts. They
were all perfectly round, and some were
iridescent. 'Those we call Orients, he
said, "and they are extremely rare. The
necklace is worth S35, 000." IN. Y. Sun.