Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-04-12
VALUE OF DIAMONDS.
GREAT EXPERIENCE REQUIRED TO
JUDGE THE WORTH o. THE GEMS.
What . Dealer Has 10 Say Of the Precious
Sparklers Different Methods Of
Cutting-Tricks Practiced by
Sharp Dealers.
Chicago News Interview ]

diamond is its fire." said Mr. Charles Z.
Giles, 'by which mean its reflected light. its
brilliancy. Tho white and bluishwhite dia-
monds are the most expensive. and the steel
wlite arc the shsrpest Tho latter has .
kind Of hard, light -brownish look. just like
newly broken steel There are all
kinds Of shades In fact, they are inumsr-
able. since no two stones are exactly alike in
color. The blush white ID the costlisst, be-
cause the rarest, outside Of the decidedly
brown diamonds, which are very rare
very hard, and very brilliant, and which
. good fancier viii prefer to any other
except the bluish-white. Then there
are the slightly brownish, the sliS Satly yel-
low, the straw color, the gresnish- yellow,
the rose color. and the canary yellow. The
greenish- yellow are least desirable, but even
q little tinge Of yellow, not noticeable to the
purchaser except by comparison with Others,
will bring down the price Of a stone one-half
to one-quarter. You see those two sparklers,
for instance" and Mr.. Giles exhibited two
beautifully brilliant stones intended for ear
drops. "Well, they are only worth $500, be-
cause they are little or what We call by
water If of . fine BLUSH white they would
be worth s., 600 The go called rose-coiored
stones, which some ignorant people suppose
to be very valuable, are only the result Of
their being cut dat, such stones being gem
orally the clearings from larger stones, the
refuse, 50 to speak.
Now, as to shape, there are different opin-
iona Some prefer the cushion shape and
others the round shape. The latter is an
American invention, and is at present the
most popular shape. The cushion shape il Of
English taste The old Dutch stones, cut in
Amsterdam, are getting out Of date, in this
country ct least You see, there in Amstsr-
dam the dealers buy the rough diamonds by
the bagful, just as they come from the
mines, and hey have . system Of exchang.
ing cut stones for rough stones, 500 carats Of
rough for 800 carats OF cut ones, for in
stance, % that it b to their interest to loss Is
ittls OF the stones weight - posi-
be In the cutting process Here things are
quite different We arc just now recruit
ing good many Of thess old Dutch stoneA
Here is one. you sss," and the expert IN
wrapped . very fine stone, (which weighed
nine and one-sxty fourth carsts whsn 1t
went upstairs to our cutters, and which now
weighs but seven and onesigth caratA Yet
its value has been increased BY this pro-
cedure, although its size diminished, 20 that
It ID now worth q, 500, while before that it
was worth but q, 00O. There is a great deal
in the cutting Of stone The old English
single-cut, where only ons side had facesA
while the lower one was left in straight lines,
i out of demand now. A stone 10 cut In
proportion to its shape and size, there being
valuable stones of all numbers Of facets.
You SEQ, there Is . grain to diamond,
just a. much as there Is to . slab Of
wood. An expert diamond-cutter will 80
that grain and cut the diamond accord
ingly. Tho shape Of the stone must b
made 90 that the angles throw the greatest
amount Of light toward the gaSer. Some
stones have their angles cut 50 that the rays
of light converge before they reach The eva
That is point which even great many ex-
perts overlook in purchasing. They will
hold the stone six inches from their eyea In
steal Of looking at it from distance. And
yet the latter is the proper way. FOR dia-
monds are intended to show brilliancy from
some distance"
~Where are the largest diamonds found
just nowP
I'm southern Africa The mines there are,
however pretty old, too, and are getting
fairly exhausted / think that among our
undeveloped resources in the United States
diamonds will loom up largely before long.
The other day bought q seventeen-carat
stone of a man who had bought it for 81,
taking it to be q topaz It was found near
Waukssha, Wis It had much the appear
ance Of South African stones. Two or three
months ago q party brought me one from
central Iowa It was q very good stone,
and should say that there must be more
where that one came from l believe there
are many spots in this country where dia.
monds are to be found. Only when found
the general public wouldn't know them Tor
rouak diamonds"
"How does a rough diamond lookP
Generally, It is little si1-pointed crys-
tai, or it may look like q roundish, semi-
transparent pebble. In its rough state it
generally doesn't look as pretty as piece OF
quartz The opinion of experts ought to Be
had whenever stones are found suspected to
be diamonds. Search, besides, ought to be
made not by individuals but by communi-
ties, for diamonds are scarce wherever they
are lodged, and many eyes looking for them
are more likely to find them than one pair,
however keen"
"What qualifications must q good expert
in diamonds pos sess!'
Experience A judge Of these stones must
have q constant experience in order to en-
able him to adjust properly and recognize
the various points that give diamond Its
value, shape, cut and color. Not one in a
thousand knows enough about diamonds to
tell il Q diamond is worth $1,000 or $500
There are very few experts There are, OF
course, quite q number OF them among the