Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-26
ABOUT BOGUS MONEY.
And It's Wearers Among the
Upper Tees.
Paste and Pinchbaok superceding
tho Genuine Article.

The amount Of bogus jewelry sold
every year In Kansas City amusing,
and 1t Is equally surprising how many
people who dress well and live well,
and who really have no other vulgari-
ty about them, indulge In this sort Of
thing.
This morning an Evening Star 70.
porter dropped into q Main street jew.
elry house to get his 10 carat diamond
pin cleaned and some more tinfoil put
on the back of 1t, fell into CONVERSE
ton with the proprietor on the sub.
ject, and pumped ONE interesting
facts out of him,
METALLIC JEwELRY
sold nowadays Ia no more than rolled
plate, and hardly that proportion of
stones are genuine. There used to be
time when a we'll turned hunting case
watch was sure to be solid gold and
cost from $50 up, but the majority of
the chronometers of to-day are very
different affairs. OF course there is
an occasional II .carat, Howard move
ment time-piece that will be sold for
q few hundred, but there Is hardly u
jewelry house in the city that can not
furnish q close imitation-almost a fac
simile-for about twenty-five.
An Evening Star reporter was
shown one that cost just 1922 90 and
was a clever affair, The case was of
the
FASHIONABLE BOX PATTERN,
the engraving needed close inspection
to reveal the fact that 1t was done on
q lathe, and across the face was
stamped In tiny letters "Eglin move.
ment." This was near enough ''Elgin"
to never be detected and at the same
time avoid copyright laws, just as the
makers of tin pan pianos paint "Stern'
way" ACROSS these worthless instru.
ments. The metal of this artistic
fraud Is "5.carat gold" which 1t is
safe to say is very highly adulterated
with the precious metal, and then
given a heavy electro plate.
An exact duplicate Of a
$50 CHAIN
can be procured for this for the trifing
sum of 80 cents and the $8.a week
young man can blossom forth In all his
gorgeousness. 1t Is true these do not
yea long but then they can be re-
placed at q small expense.
Ladies' watches arecheaper andstun.
ming looking ones can be purchased all
the way from So to SIS. Chataillnes
of rolled plate are to be had at the
latter figure and even three or four
dollars cheaper.
These, however, are Of the better
class of bogus jswelry. II wear is no
object at all, s. will buy a gorgeous
chroncmeter of aluminium gold"
sometimes called
"MILToN GOLD"
These are made to sell, and like
charity, are known by their works,
which always refuses to go, but they
look well, and when a nicely dressed
man fishes one Of them out of his pocket
and holds 1t just 80 the sun can strike
the FURNISHED case, he Is bound to
make an impression.
Public confidence is equally apt to
] be tempered with In the matter OF
/, rings. The jewellers say In strict con
fdence that no pawnbroker would loan
q dollar on so per cent of the jewelry
worn in upper circles here. Rubies,
sapphires and emeralds are the favor
tie subject outside
THE DIAMOND
for ingenuity of this character. The
counterfeit Jewels are made by q pro.
cess called "baoking," which consists
of cutting a piece Of tinted glass into
the shape desired, but leaving it fat
on top. This style Is technically
known as "tsble cutting" and q tiny
slab of the genuine stone Is cemented
oltop This Is generally q fake from
some large cutting and Is comparative
ly inexpensive. The result is very
snowy and very cheap, A glitterlne
ring constructed on this principle can
be purchased at from four to six dol.
lars and
THR IMITATION
Is really 80 good that the jewellers sell
an enormous quantity of them.
Counterfeit diamonds are plenty,
but they are not generally worn by
people who lay claims to gentility al
might be supposed. The reason ID
that unless they are set so that the
bottom cannot be seen thew are readily
detected, for anything like q fine fire
can only be obtained by covering the
back with foil, and thus producing
sort of many.faced mirror. The glove
rings introduced not long ago where
the stones we're set flush with the sur
face of the gold were the most favora
BILE to the use of
THE BOGUS GEMS,
and In these they have about thei,
only wear In better circles o. 70
Some of the bogus diamonds ar
made by covering quartz crystals will
o sort Of hard powder, alleged to bs
the dust Of the bona ide gems. These
are the widely advertised "Parislal
Diamonds" but there Is something il
the interior retraction of a pure ston,
that battles anything Ike plating. AL
false diamonds have more or less o
q dull, blush color In the daytime
something like the reflection from
polished steel knife, although many O
them look better than
THE GENUINE STONES
when worn under the gaalight.
The same spirit of ingenious hun
buggery runs through all the hundre
and one trinkets of the iewelry. Hsl
= of the bracelets worn are plated and
good proportion OF the other half
fire gilt" which menas covered wit
an infinitismally thin coating of To-