Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-04-04
JEWELS TRUE AND FALSE.


| From the Philadelphia Pres.
There is a perfect specimen of the lapidist,a
art, said J. w. Beath yesterday. as he handed
across the counter a fine specimen of the calrn-
CORN.
observe" he continued, 'the number of ia
Gets on that stone. There are 800 i'm all and
each one is perfectly true in shape. This stone
weighs nearly two ounces. and Vet so truly Is it
cut. the oval shape SO geometr.cally perfect,
| that it will stand on its pivot. which is not so
| large as pins head and. suiting action to
! words, the lapidist DEITY placed the stone ON
sheet of glass, and, the center Of erayitation
falling within its pin-head base. il remained
/ nicely balanced on its lower point or pivot
'Nill you tell me how the transformation Of
! the opaque muidy-looking stone in the rough
To the sparkling gem is effected" asked
the visitor.
. The rough gem goes through three processes
, before II Is ready iur the jewelers. window
FIRST, piece OF the stone must be cut of as
nearly az possible the size required The saw
used in doing this is circular piece of sheet
iron without teeth. set as a wood-worker's saw
and operated by foot treadle Two men stand
ut this saw each having foot upon the traadle
one man holds the stone 10 be cut tightly
against the edge of the saw. while the
other. using a. feather dipped in oil,
applies diamond dust to the edge Of
the saw. The being made of very
ductile metal, the tiny particles of diamond be-
come Embedded in it, and acting as cutting
points, soon wear through the hardest stone
! Now the piece cut of passes to the cutting
table. Here Is a wheel strapped through the
center that reyolves parallel ID the top of the
table. The stone to be cut II fastened to stick
about six inches long with cement The lapl-
dist takes tie stick in his right hand steadies
his hand on wooden rest which is adjusted to
the right or the wheel, and holds the stone
irmiy to the wheel until one facet Is ground
down. To the wheel. should add is applied
diamond dust and water. The table and upper
facets OF the stone are cut this way and the
stone is then removed from and feadiusted TO
the stick before the lapdist cuts the under side,
collets aud remaining facets.
THE POLISHING PROCESS.
''The manipulation of the stone in the third
or polishing, process. is identical with that Of
the cutting. The wheel, however, is composed
mainly of tin, and tripoli and rottenstone are
used in the polishing, If you will look closely
at small diamond or crystal and notice the
number Of facets, their equality Of size and bar-
mony OF form, you will be able 10 get an idea OF
the skill care and long practice called for by the
work"
lis the manufacture Of imitation stone carried
on To any extent in this country 2"
swell, there are limitations and limitations,
you know. Nearly all the paste comes from
France, as can be produced much cheaper
there than here. Five-sixths OF the paste sold
under various names would not deceive q
child. 1t is bought and sold by the quart.
one might almost say. for mere song and
looks like just what it is-glass. and often
bad glass at that. Now look at this :" and as
he spoke Mr.. Beath held out at arms length
with pair of dividers what appeared to be q
fine two-carat brilliant. just a shade of color.
close inspection showed that the lower half
OF the stone was cased in tiny metal cup.
Now, no one but an expert can say whether
that is genuine brilliant or not As matter
OF fact 1t is foiled paste and worth in trade less
than dollar The foil is placed between the
lower part of the stone and the cap or covering,
but when the work as we'll executed it takes an
expert to detect its presence. There is even q
more altful and effective way OF Stimulating the
diamond. but am pleased to say for the credit
OF the trade that the counterfeit is rarely made
mp In this country.
THE D0CBIET.
''The doublet, as it is called, is made by fixing
a slice Of thin diamond, a worthless cutting
from large stone, on the table of q brilliant
with Invisible cement. piece Of glass is then
affixed to the bottom Of the false stone which
is cut fiat, not to q point. This gives real
diamond surface to the top of the stone SO that
the file test would not touch It. These false
stones are almost exclusively used for the pur-
pose of defrauding people. and you viii rarely
come across one even in the trade. Emerald.
ruby and sapphire doublets are used Freely and
it is almost impossible for the Impractical eye
to detect them. Do not misunderstand
me- they are not sold as genuine but ss imita-
tons, and very beautiful they are. garnet il
used as a top layer. and blue or green giaes ID :
affixed to the bottom Of the stone, according to
the natural color OF the simulated stone. Here
is magnificent specimen OF q scarce gem" said
the lapidist. taking an ovai-cut green stone
with rich russet tinge in 1t, from drawer N
his private cabinet. The stone weighed, per-
haps, six carats, and possessed much brilliancy.
1T is called an Alexandrite," said he, and h
found in Siberia This gem Ia remarkable and
valuable because while BY daylight 1t Be green,
a. you see It now, by gaslight It is . full ricA
purple In color. Here 10 q remsrkable gen."
and the iapidist took up beautifully cut stone
that was yellow on the face and pure white nm
derneath. "This ia q specimen OF the two-c0l-
ored sapphire, and Is very rare"