, 1885-04-16
VALUE OF DIAMONDS.
GREAT EXPERIENCE REQUIRED TO
JUDGE THE WORTH OF THE GEMS.
What a Dealer Has to Say of Precious
sparklers Different RIetho OF
tr cuttinE-Tricks Practiced by
sharp Dealers.


Chicago News Interview
~rhe first point to 10 considered about a
3iamond Is is fire. said Mr.. Charles K
Giles, +by which / mean its reflected light, It's
briliancy. The white and hiuish-white dia-
monds arc the most expensive. and the steel
white are the sharpest The latter has a
kind Of hard, light brownish look, just like
newly broken steel. There are all
kinds OF shadez In fact they arr inumer-
able, since no two stones are exactly alike in
color. The blush white Is the c~ostliest, be-
cause the rarest, outside OF the decidedly
brown diamonds, which arc very rare,
very hard, and very brilliant, and which
a good fancier will prefer TO any other
except tho blush white. Then there
are the slightly ~brownish. the slightly yell
low, the straw color, tho greenish-yellow,
the rose color, and the canary yellow. The
greenish- yellow are least desirable, but even
a little tingo OF yellow, not noticeable to the
purchaser except by comparison with others,
will bring down tho price of n stone one-half
{, ons-quarter. You see those two sparklers,
for instance, and Mr.. Giles exhibited two
beautifully brilliant stones intended for ear
drops. We'll, tbey are only worth $500. be-
cause they are a little on what we call by
WATER II Of a fine blush whits they would
10 worth $4,000. Tho so-called rose-colored
stones, which some ignorant people suppose
10 BE- very valuable, arc only tbs result OF
their being cut fat, such stones being gen
orally the c~leArings from larger stones, the
refuse, soto speak.
Now. as to shape, there are different opin-
ions Some prefer the cushion shape and
others the round shape. Tho Inter Is al
American invention, and Is at present tho
most popular shape. The cushion shape Is Of
English taste. The old Dutch stones, cut In
Amsterdam, are getting out Of date, in this
country at least You SEQ, there In Amster-
dam the dealers buy the rough diamonds by
tho bagful, just as they come from the
mines, and they have a system Of exchang-
ing cut stones for rough stones. 800 carats Of
rough for 900 carnts of cut ones, for in
stance, 50 hat Il is 10 their interest 10 loss rs
little OF the stones weight as posi-
bio in the cutting process. Hero things are
quito different. We arc just now recruit
ing a good many OF these old Dutch stones.
Here Is one. you see,' and the expert un
wrapped a very fine stone, (which weighed
nine and one-sixty- fourth carats when IL
went upstairs 10 our cutters, and which now
weighs but seven and one -eigth carats. Yet
is value has been increased by this pro-
cedure, although its sizs diminished, 80 hat
Il Is now worth $500, while before that II
was worth but 81, 900. There Is n great deal
In tho cutting Of IA stone. The old English
single-cut, whore only one side had facets,
wnilo the lower one was left in straight lines,
Is out Of demand now. a stone Is cut In
proportion 10 is shape and size, there being
valuable stones Of all NUMBER Of facets.
You see, there Il a grain to a diamond,
just as much as there Is TO u slab OF
wood. An expert diamond cutter will sos
that grain and cut tho diamond accord.
lngly. The shape OF the stone must be
mndc so that tho angles throw the greatest
smount OF light toward the gazsr. SOME
stones have their angles cut 80 that the rays
Of light converge before they reach the eye.
That Is "A point which even a great many OK
psrts overlook In purchasing. They Will
hold tho stone six inches from their eyes, in
steal OF looking at it from n distance. And
yet the latter is the proper way. for dia
monds arc intended TO show b%rilllancy from
some distance.
ewherc are the largest diamonds found
Just nowf
-Iu southern Africa. The mines there are,
however, pretty old, too. and are getting
fairly exhausted. l think that among our
undevelope1 resources in the United States
diamonds will loom up largely before long.
The other day | bought n seventeen-cnrat
STONE OF a man who had bought IL for 81,
taking Il b be a topaz IL was ound neal
wauke,ha, Wis. It had much the appear
nnce Of South African stones. Two or three
months ago II party brought me one from
central Town. It was n very good stone,
and should say that there must DO more
whore that one came from ! believe there
nre many spots in this country where dia
monds are TO be found. Only when found
the general public wouldn't know them Tor
rough diamonds"
"How does Il rough diamond lookF
Generally, 1t Is n little six-pointed crys-
tai, or Il may look like n roundish, semi
transparent pebble. In is rough state il
generally doesn't look as pretty as a piece of
quartz The opinion Of experts ought to DO
had whenever stones arc found suspected to
be diamonds Search, besides, ought to be
mndo not by individuals but by communi-
ties, for diamonds are scarce wherever they
are lodged. and many eyes looking for them
arr morJ likely 10 find them than one pair,
however keen.
"What qualifications must a good expert
In diamonds p~osessin
Experience. A judge of these stones must
nave a constant experience in order to on
able him to adjust properly and recognize
the various points that give a diamond its
value, shape, cut and color. Not one In a
thousand knows enough about diamonds to
tell II a diamond b, w1rtl $1,000 or 500.
There are very fow experts There arc. Of
course. quite a number q them among the
dealers. but very few outside Of them. The
value OF a stone depends. Of course, after
all. IA good deal ON individual tastes and
prejudices, and really its market price is
COVER ned more by Its relative scarcity than
by anything else. II, for instance, some
prolific mines we're discovered now yielding
lots 81 ine blush white diamonds they
would decline IN price. and thuss on
color, the yeilowish and rownish ones,
would rise Only 10 per cent Of the
diamonds found are worthy TO be- set in
jewelry, you know. TIL rest are refuse
stones which are brought up by sharp
dealers, who palm them OF afterward o. an
unsuspscting public as great bargains Lots
OF man are taken in In tlnt way. People
think that they have struck a good thing
and will keep quiet about where they bought
IL and how much they pail for II. II they
went to an honest expert he would point out
- them the law in the stones they pur
chased so cheap and show them that they
had been swindled. Diamonds have always
a market price, and IL they are good, mar