St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-08
THEY WEAR DIAMONDS.
A Dealer in Precious Stones Discusses
Their Peculiarities and Value
to Globe" Man.
Wherein the True Worth of Diamonds
xists--Their Value Increasing
With Their Size.
Expensive Jewelry Owned by st. Paul
People President HIPS VAL
liable Collection.
Sparks Worn by p. III. Kelly, G. B.
Clason, Thomas Lowry and Other
Twin City Folks.

how long it will be before | find it out"
was the remark made by diamond dealer
at the Ryan hotel last evening, when a
GLOBE reporter suggested that it would be
an easy thing To pocket one OF the diamonds
that the gentleman was showing him. 1t
was in Mr.. Brugh's private Office in the
Ryan and the gentleman had invited the
reporter in to look at the precious stones,
which he said were worth about $4,000,
and which he seemed to handle as reck-
leSsly as if they were pebbles. He spread
them out on the little table, which he had
partially covered with cotton and flannel.
and rolled them about. AS the big four
teen karat stone flashed IN the gaslight
and huge crescent set with
diamonds, rubes and emeralds. with a soli-
taire in the bend and dozen or more other
pieces with the same kind of stones were
brought out. the little table looked as radiant
as the throne of which the poet tells that
far outshone the wealth of Ormus or of
Ind"
No went on Mr.. Patten, as he reached
down in .bispoGket and took out what looked
like cheap kind of leather pocketbook and
began undoing some more diamonds. Its a
part of my business to see that nobody gets
| away with any of these precious stones. 1t
has been tried on me, but | don't tell the
tricks OF my trade, so I'm not going over
| lot of detective stories at this time. I've
only got $50, 900 worth with me this trip, "
he went on, while the reporter reached
down in his trousers pocket and felt of a
quarter that he had left to run him until
Saturday night, land 1 don't expect any at
tempt to rob me OF such an insignificant
| quantity as that. 1t is not
generally KNOWN" said he, THAT the
diamond is not the most valuable of
| the precious stones. The ruby is the more
valuable: that is. a ruby of a given weight
! outranks the diamond Of the same. For
instance, a ruby of the proper color-the
pigeons blood-of one karat weight is
worth about the same as one-karat dia-
mOnd, but ruby that weighs two karatS is
worth
TEN TIMES AS MUCH
as two-karat diamond. Should a ruby of
the perfectly pigeons blood color of five
karats weight be offered for sale, it would
easily command So. 900. Very few persons
have ever seen really fine ruby. One of
the finest | ever saw belongs to DR.. Hutch
inson of st. Paul. They are not kept by
many jewelers."
Where do they come from?"
Most that are in existence have come
from the mines in Pegu. India. and some
from BorneO. but no mines are now produc-
ing them, which is the reason for their
great value. Their color as you know, is
red. or in the parlance of the profession,
pure pigeOu-blood red,' or the red red of
the ruby red"
Where do diamonds come FROM"
up to $50 years ago all the diamonds
that were known came from the GOlcOnda
mines in India, and from this come the say
ings and saws on the wealth of Col
conda' In 1925 they were discovered in
Brazil, 225 miles north of Rio Janeiro, and
in 1869 in South Africa north of the
Cape of Good Hope. The principal diamond
mine nOw-the one from which come most
of those that are put on the markets. the
Kimberly in South Africa.
lathe sapphire ranks third in the family of
precious Stones, and the emerald fourth in
beauty, value and appreciation. Sapphires
are found in many parts of the world,
though chiefly in India. 1t is also nota-
bic that they are found almost exclusively
within the tropics. The pure sapphire has
the most eXQuisitely blue tint that you can
conceive. 1t is hard to work, being.
next to the diamond, the hardest
substance known. The emerald comes last
and perfect one should be dark and lus-
trOus, like deep. green velvet. They are
much appreciated and are said in the pro-
fessional shibboeth to care kindly to the
eye.' These four varieties are
ALL THAT ARE KNOWN
as precious stones; all others are semi
precious or worthless
(which are the semi-precious?"
''Opals, tourmalne. turquoise, cats eyes
and few other very hard varieties. The
0Uotp garnet ptP yV0rthlpSS
Pearls are sometimes classed with the
precious stones, but they are not stones,
but the results of curious disease of an
oyster.
Diamonds are worth. for small mixed
stones of sixteenth, an eighth or quar-
ter OF a karat weight, about $40 karat. A
nice selected diamond of a half-karat
weight and of pure white water. will
easily bring $40, and three-quarter-
karat diamond, round and with
siXty-fOur facets, is worth $40
a karat. A fine one-karat stone is
worth. if it has no imperfectons, 500.
The term solitaire is applied to diamond
of a karat in weight and upward and never,
properly, to those below. A selected two
karat stone. of fine quality and brilliancy,
will sell readily for $500 per karat. and
pair of five karat stones, perfectly pure and
white. are worth in the market $1,000. OF
course there are differences in the quality
and value of good diamonds, and diamond
of very fair quality. up to two and one-half
karats weight, can be had from $50 to 500
per karat.
"A flaw or imperfection in a diamond,
however small it may be, greatly deterio-
rates its value. and there is no class OF mer-
chandise that requires SD much care in the
handling. People who are about to pur-
chase often speak of a bargain
in Diamonds, because they have
some slight flaw that is not
noticeable. There is no such thing as "a
bargain on diamonds any more than there
would be in purchasing money. Dealers
often tell customers that diamond has a
slight imperfection that will not mar the
beauty of the stone, but small imperfection
counts for as much as large one. There
is, as the preachers say. no middle ground
A diamond is either pure or it is not pure,
and small imperfectioDs count as much as
large in determining qualities"
Il don't suppose people wear diamonds
as much in st. Paul as in Eastern cities"
said the reporter
You are wrong" said Mr.. Patten
''There are great many worn, and some
of the finest collections in the country
ARE IN ST. PAUL.
81 lave seen and examined many that are
worn in ST. Paul and know their value.
One of the finest collections in the United
States is owned by Mr.. and Mrs. J. J. Hill.
Mr.. Hill showed me, on a letter of intro
duction from a mutual friend, necklace
containing forty-seven of the finest old
mine, pure water diamonds 1 ever laid
my eyes on. Not stone is worth
$500 karat. and some of the
largest could be sold for $1,000 per
karat. The large pendant from
the necklace is one of the finest to be seen