Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-09-03


be used as ring, scarfpin and stud. The
jeweler named an amount which he
said was much more than he wished to
spend, as the stone was only an imita-
ton and not worth the outlay. The
jeweler was astonished to hear that the
fine stone he had in his hand was an
imitation, and testing it slightly. assured
tho owner that it was real diamond.
At this the sharper laughed and stated
he had bought it in Baden Baden from
a gambler out of luck for $50 francs
and that the jeweler must be mistaken
He willingly left it until next day for
further testing. When he came tie
following day the jeweler assured hiSA
it was a real diamond Gas he we'll knew
and to back his opinion offered to give
him %. 800 francs for it. The sharper
still asserted that the jeweler was mis-
taken, but agreed to sell it for that
price on condition that he would not be
held responsible if it was afterwards
discovered to be an imitation. This
was agreed to and a document was
drawn up by which the jeweler agreed
to give 22,500 francs for the ring and to
hold the yender, who had bought it and
still believed it to be imitation, not re-
sponsible after the sale. The transac-
ton was concluded in the presence of
witnesses. Just before the money was
paid over and the ring delivered. the
sharper skillfully substituted the imita-
ton and palmed the diamond. In a
few days afterwards, when the fraud
was discovered. although the schemer
was still on the spot, the dupe had no
remedy, as, in the document he had
signed. he had agreed to purchase the
stone whether imitation or not. Icould
tell you many well-verified anecdotes Of
this description, but they are all yaria-
tons of one plan. After confidence is
inspired sudden skillful stroke is
played which is generally undiscovered
until it is too late"
sis it fact that stones having all the
properties of the diamond have been
produced by scientific means?"
THE first effort to produce diamonds
dates back to the middle ages. Unjust
be admitted, however, that during the
last half century the systematic expert
ments of many scientists, in France
especially, have been awarded with
some amount of success. Such great
minds as Sir David Brewster. De La
tour. Gannal, Depretz, etc, have given
The scope and method of their expert
ments are too involved for brief ex-
PLANTATION. 1t is undeniable from the
experiments of Depretz and De Chan
cour;ois (Which are the most recently
that diamonds can be produced by the
action of strong electric currents and
intense heat. The gems produced so
far have been of the very smallest size;
the only problem now is whether gems
OF understandable dimensions can be
manufactured in the same way"
A few days ago a Tribune reporter
renewed his acquaintance with men,
Der of one of the largest New York
firms who import precious stones. After
some general conversation the talked
veered around to the present condition
of the gem business. How have YOU
found trade this trip" was asked.
'.Tolerably good" replied the i'm
porter.
What are the quotations for dia-
monds now. Are they higher or lower
than in former years."
That all depends on the grade. The
tendency for the last few years seems
to be as follows: For old mine stones
or fine specimens of other kinds the
price is almost stationary, or if there is
any change it is in an upward direction.
The flawed or imperfect goods are con-
tinually going down, and from the
present outlook it is hard to say what
Will be the ultimate value of the stuff"
Il have heard great deal of old mine
stones; what does the term mean?'
IAN old mine stone originally was a
gem of peculiar color and especially
fine fire found in the Golconda district.
Now the term is much broader. 1t en-
braces all stones of the blush white cast
SO priced by connoisseurs. Many called
old mine now were found in Brazil,
some fine specimens even in Africa.
These gems, wherever found. always
command the highest price; that is to
say for white stones; of course, a rarity
in the shape of fine black or rose-col-
ored diamond always brings an extra
ordinary price"
what is the present selling price of
fine stones?"
''Storekeepers generally ask between
800 and S125 for flawless carat stones
of the first water. Our carat is the
same as the English. and in ordinary
troy weight is 3.l74 grains. The price
l have named is that usually obtained
for average fine stones, but there are
always especially fine gems in the mar
ket which bring almost double that
amount. have at present paper of
carat stones that can not sell under
$175 carat net. To make the average
profit on these goods the storekeeper
will have to get from 1920 to $3.50 per
carat for them
"How do you compute the value of
stones above carat in weight"
1.-The old rule formulated BY Tavernier
two centuries ago was that the prices
of two diamonds are proportional to
the square of their weight According
to this, if a one carat stone of the first
water is worth 800, a two carat would
1 be worth 800. and so on. This rule,
which was quite correct at that time.
would now be very misleading. Ii
assigns to diamonds q much higher
price than at present. Here is the list
we 60 by now. prepared during the last
ten years by the best authorities in
America:
| x carat. & 3J1.....I carat. 3 5000 SO
| L carat. 6Gt..... 81 carat. 6OO1 65l
carat 1Ol1 Is 81 carat. s00@ 15(
! IL carat. 1J0ft 175 81 carat. song S5f
! Il, carat. aO6 2s5 carat 9Ob6 a5(
/ IN carat 500 rs AZ carat. 1.0l00l .O5l
. carat 1000 Us AZ carat. 1,l0oGsl, l5f
| pa carat $500 3.5 AZ carat. l,200Gl, 20
2I carat 40O1 As 5 carat. 1,5WG 49,
"a carat. 500 500
You see by the last example the