The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-11-11
RARE GEMS.
A GREAT CRAZE FOR FANCY AND VAL
UABLE STONES.
Running Up the Prices - Imitation
and How they srs Made-Dfs'
monds. Rubiss. and tff
Cas's-Kycs.
fph,,.de,ch,s TimeS.

fPhiladelphia Times.
"What do you think OF that?" said
gem expert 10 Times reporter, holding
out rich stone.
The reporter suggested that 1t was
fiye-carst ruby.
"Wen," said the expert, ''its glass;
market value about ten cents. II is fine
counterfeit, however, and l got hold Of II
In curious way. Some years ago j sold
its counterpart to Baltimore lady, who
was then going to Europe. While there
she showed the stone to many per-
sons, who admired 1t. At q party one eve
ming II was passed around among the
guests, and did not find its way back to
the owner until later in the evening; bur
as they were all friends she thought no.
thing OF IL. When she returned from
Europe il was brought to me to be cleaned,
and found that the stone had sold for a
number Of thousand dollars bad been re-
moved and this put in its place. The lady
refused TO follow the matter up, and gave
me the stone that would hardly be sus-
peeted except by an expert"
| "Js this sort OF thing uncommon
asked the reporter.
| "No," was the reply; but the stones are
sold IN cheap jewelry aud no claim OF value
is made. There are people, OF course, who
wear bogus gems for one reason or an
other, and their manufacture is quite
business"
| HOW TO INITIATE THE RUBY.
"They are generally made OF glass, with
| about 80 per cent. OF oxide OF lead. This
| Is known TO the trade a. strass, and Is the
basis OF imitation gems OF all kinds, only
| different oxides being used 10 produce diff
ferent tints. II you wish to make ruby
YOU would have TO use about these ingredi-
ents Silica, 49,; red oxide OF lead, $50;
calcined potash, i.s and parts OF calcined
| bOrax. alumina, and arsenic acid. Melt
one thousand parts OF this with forty parts
of glass of anthony, one part purple cas-
sius and one In excess OF gold, and you
| have got the material, when cut, that you
have Just declared worth several thousand
dollars.
The rage for fancy stones" continued
the expert, sis undated. Five years ago
you could not sell ruby, sapphire, or any
OF the fancy gems-that Is. i'm paying guam
| tities-and they were so out OF fashion
| that fashionable women kept them in their
| jewelry-cases; but the Prince OF Wales
started the rage two years ago by wearing
ring with diamond (cat's-eye). ruby,
and sapphire set in il, and since then they
have been all the fashion. The ladies wear
them, but. strange TO say. they are more
popular with gentlemen. A favorite wrln-
kle Is a cat's-eye between two rubies or
diamonds.
| Expensive? ! should say so. Here is
one that is worth $4,000 to any one that can
buy it," and the expert handed ont q
smooth greenish stone, in which myrads
OF ciliated lines horizontal to the plane Of
| the stone were seen. resembling the shafts
OF light in labradorite. "The eye" con-
| tinued the dealer, sis produced by length
| ened yacuitles left in the structure at the time
| tits crystallizing, and the light striking upon
them produces the beautiful star that
| changes with every movement OF the
wearer. Sapphires are favorite stones at
present, and bring large prices. The
| largest one known is now in the Museum
of Natural History q. Paris, and has quite
a romance connected with it. 1t was orig
inally found in India by poor lad, who
took il 10 the great Roman jeweler, Ras-
poll. He found a buyer in German prince,
and il finally reached Ferret, n Paris jew
eler, who sold IL again for S3l 900.
Yes, there are several kinds of sap
phires--the water, poey, Brazilian. and the
| Oriental, and the cats-eye is sapphire.
They are initiated as skilfuly as the ruby /:
| one thousand parts OF strass with twenty
five OF oxide OF cobalt will do it,"
ExORBIrANT PRICES FOR CURIOUS STONES.
"Who buys the most valuable stones ?"
asked the reporter.
"Not always the richest people," was
the reply. There are numbers OF colec-
tors who pay eXorbitant prices for curious
or outre stones. All wealthy people, Of
course. have their gems, and young men OF
fashion often have Il collection Of rings
worth 100000. have customer, Span
ish nobleman, who comes here about once
a year, who spends $4,000 yearly in jew
elIy. 1t Is perfect mania with him. He
gets tired OF the sets, brings them back,
and we buy them and sell him something
new. have known him to wear nearly
hundred thousand dollars worth OF jew
elry, yet not look oyerdressed. His sleeve
buttons were two enormous diamonds, cut
with his arms and so ruined; In his watch
were set rubies and diamonds OF great
price his studs were white old India
stones, and in a seal he had ruby that
was OF incaculable price. He would he a
perfect mine to a thief, and have heard it
said that he had the finest collection Of
gems south OF the United States.
"The topaz is fashionable that il, the
rare kinds. One, known as the Grand
Mogu, is valued In Europe at Sl50,000.
II weighs 1871 carats. Among the crown
Jewels OF France there was an amethyst OF
beautiful violet and red tint, valued at
~, 900. Here are some stones" he said,
rolling out a lot OF emeralds, beryls, and
aquamarines, % that, though chemically the
same. differ much commercially. The
aquamarine is a fav0rite with ladies' be-
cause IL retains its brilliancy in artificial
light. Here, for an example, Is a blue sap
phire OF two carats that, as you see,
is respondent with light, but at
night is comparatively insignificant,
while this aquamarine, valued at SIS,
glows in the evening with remarka-
bic brilliancy. sell numbers OF them for
evening wear, and they make fine dis
play. They vary from 81 for very small
ones to s75 and al00 an ounce-not carat.
MIR. Hope, probably the greatest gem-col-
Iector In the world. possessed beryl some
years ago weighing six and u half ounces
and valued at S2,325. II came from the
Cangayum mine. East Indies. There is a
beryl over two inches long in the crown OF
England, and an aquamarine has been
found in the town OF Monzlnskaia, Russia,
that is reported to have brought, on the
authority Of Professor Dieulafait over
100000. SO YOU see the cheapest stones,
go 10 speak, bring big prices sometimes.
Turquoise is much used now to produce
effects In fancy iewelry where a sort OF
rough mosaic Is required. That il was
valued In this country Is proved by the
discovery Of an oldturquoise mine in Mex
leo. The shaft leads in under Il mountain,
and even the rough tools Of the unknown
miners were found there. There are two
kinds, the old and the new rock and to
show the difference between the two, when