Morning journal and courier., 1881-09-16
A Craze for Diamonds.
The Favorfte Gem of American Women- Large Purchases of Diamonds for the American Mnrlket-Grent Value of the Gsms-Method of Cutting the Stones.
 rFrorn the N Tribune-1

The Favorfte Gem of American Women-
 Large Purchases of Diamonds for the
 American Mnrlket-Grent Value of the
 Gsms-Method of Cutting the Stones.
 From the N. Y. Tribune.l
 The passion for diamonds is increasing. Probably at no previous time in the history of the American world of fashion were many of these precious stones worn as now, nor so large proportion of them of such ex- cellent quality. Here and there the popular taste may select the fancifu1 gem-toumaline or zrcon-but the fire glancing from the facets of diamond has charm for the muI- titude not possessed by any other gem. Most of the diamonds come from the Cape of Good Hope, few from Brazil and some from Siberia and Borneo. The discovery of the African diamonds six or seven years ago upset the market, but it has since recovered it's equilibrium. Merchants in this city claim that imitation diamonds have not materially injured their interests. Such stones depend upon the glare of gaslight to avoid detection, as sunlight readily exposes the real character. The demand for fine stones is increasing and for stones finer cut than it is gnerally pos sible to obtain in Europe. Many diamonds brought to America are not cut In prlsmatlc proportion and have to be cut over by Amer ican workmen to bring out their real beauty. A diamond has thirty-siX facets on top and twenty -four facets below. If the distance from the ''table' to the ''color" is more than one-third of the stone it's '1ife' is lost and it must be recut. The bottom of good dia- mond tapers almost to point in the cutting which is finally taken off. Of all the dla- monds the white translucent stone that IS free from flaw and perfectly cut is the most valuable. Pink diamonds are rare, but bright yellow, brown and jet black diamonds may be easily found in the market. While dull tint iniures white diamond marked color of red or green adds considerable to its value. Nine-tenths of the blue diamonds are milky, while all the fine white stones have just a suggestion of blue in their composition. Diamonds cost more than they did ten years ago. perfect brilliant of the first water is worth about $50; one-half carat, $175; one carat S55O; two carats, $800 Diamonds of a larger size bring whatever may be ob tained from the purchaser, as no fixed price can be stated. AS diamond loses nine twen- tieths of it's weight in cutting the value of a rough diamond may be calculated per carat as one half the estimate mentioned. Diamonds imperfect or thin are usually reduced pow der or utilized in tools for drilling purposes. | Three carat stones often bring $900
 q have frequently paid $500 carat for something fne," said a Broadway diamond merchant recently to a Tribune reporter. Diamonds are like horses, there's no market value for them. No dealer ever sold good gem cheap. In war times you might pick up | . diamond trihe cheaper than now, but to- | day if you want good diamond you must ! pay good price for it. You may buy one carat diamond for $lOO, but It Will be noth- ! ing extra, no gen."
 Are there more diamonds worn now than ! ever before in this country ?'
 l II should say so most decidedly. have been in the business over thirty years, and 1 ! never knew such rage for the stone as e1- l ists to day. Last week l attended a garden ] party at the Grand Union Hotel at Saratoga 1 and I saw bushels of them. That is the only I way to describe the number of valuable dla- monds worn there, and most of them were fine stones. Nearly every woman there had big solitaires in rings or earrings. You see
 the finest diamonds worn solitaire in studs,
 rings and earrings, while for bracelets and ! hairpins an inferior stone may be used, as they are not so conspicuous. l noticed one
 thing however, at the Grand Union, nine
 tenths of the diamonds were not clean. Dust
 settles on everything and 1t is astonishing how little care a woman will give to her diamonds.
 They carefully inspect their gloves and shoes
 before completing their toilets, but their dia- l monds worth often thousands of dollars, re-
 ceive no attention, become dirty and some times are lost. A lady customer of mine lost | very valuable diamond after possessing 1t eight years If she had been in the habit of giving the gem any attention she would have noticed that setting of eighteen carat gold will wear out in time and lose it's grip on the stone. The large solitaire diamond is now preferred to the cluster. Few diamonds are | worn by gentlemen except 1n the case or 1 young men anxious for display. Here and l there a gentleman will wear solitaires on his 1 shirt bosom but if he has good taste he will 1 be careful that they are small, or he may be
 taken for gambler. It is astonishing how
 much money is sometimes represented ln the diamonds worn by ladies on 'swelP occasion. | It is a common thing in New York society to see BIO, 900 or $2O, ,OOO in diamonds on 8 ladys person Mrs. John Jacob Astor has been known to wear $50,000 worth of dia- | monds at an evening reception, and should say that the diamonds worn by Mrs. w. H.
 Vanderbilt at the garden party I spoke of i were worth fully that amount of money. | Mrs, Mackay, wife of the Bonanza King,
 once offered to buy the famous Regent dia-
 mond, the most valuable in the world. It is | valued at mere million, but the French gov
 ernment wouldn't sell it.''
 "A handy thing to pawn when you strike
 hard-pan," suggested the reporter.
 "Not at all. You couldn't find dealer in
 the city who would advance a dollar on it.
 Every one would know it and know that il
 belonged to the crown of France. Besides,
 the diamond is too big to sell-what could
 you do with it Certainly not wear it. When
 a diamond is over five or SIX carvats In slze it is not sa1eable. Halphen, the famous dia-
 mond cutter of Paris, has had in his posses
 sion the South Star diamond, 125 carats for thirty years and has not been able to find | a purchaser for it, although the price is only | $o75, ,OOO. It Is very nara Io get rlO or IneSe
 extraordinary stones. An importer in John , street has had two stones, each twenty car ats, in the market for years and has been un
 able to sell them, and I don't believe he vii . ever be able to dispose of them. Isaac Her mann, of this city, did cut forty carat dia , mond, the largest, believe, ever cut in New York. It was good job, but the stone was not white and was most likely worn by 2 gambler.
 s'Here, "-displaying acase of flashing geml fare solitaire earrings, two carats, ant worth $1 200. They are large enough to pro l duce striking effect, and when you ge m uch larger diamonds they look clumsy.n
 'sHow are diamonds prepared for the mar
 ket?"
 } 'swell, they are found, as you know, 1T alluvial deposits and are extracted by wash ing. They are cut by cleaving the stones Then two of them are rubbed together unti 7 they receive shape in the rough. The nex step is to finish them carefully by grinding ) on a revolving disk fashioned for soft stee f which is covered with oil and, diamond dust 8 Most diamonds are cut in the shape of brilli F | ants and some in the form of 0 rose having : flat bottom and an upper surface of tiny fs s cets and ending in a point.