The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-05-22

eighty pounds. IurquolSes OF the Size
of a pea are sometimes sold for eight
pounds. The color most priced is the
deep blue of the sky. A small speck of
a lighter color, which only connoisseurs
can distinguish, or an almost unappre-
ciable tinge of green, decreases the
value considerably. Then there is that
undetinable property Of a good tor
quoise, the cat, something like tho
water of a diamond or the luster Of
a pearl; a fine colored Turquoise with.
out the zat is not worth much" He
subsequently adds: The above-men-
toned three hundred pounds Meshed
torquoise was bought from the finder by
one of the Rish-i-Safds (elders of the
yillage) for three pounds; the latter
sold it still uncut at Meshed for thirty.
eight pounds. As soon as it was cut, its
true value became apparent, and it was
sent to Paris, where it was valued at six
hundred pounds. The second pur-
chaser, however, received only three
hundred and forty pounds for it; the
difference was gained by the agents."
Among the fine torquoises in the possess
sion of the Shah, there is one valued at
two thousand pounds.
The best stones Of the second class
are worth about ninety pounds per
pound; whilst the most. inferior will
scarcely bring a twentieth part of this
price. The latter are chiefly used in
Persia for the decoration of swords.
horse-trappings, pipe-heads and the
common kinds of jewelry. Small cut
turquoises of a slightly better quality
than these sell at the rate of from two
to three shillings per thousand. In the
third class are included stones unsafe
able in Persia, as well as large fiat
| stones, some of which are esteemed for
amulets, brooches. buckles and the
like. The prices given there will be
more than doubled when the turquoises
are sold in Europe.
The turquoise being an Opaque stone,
it would be useless to cut facets upon it,
as these would not reflect light in the
same way as when fashioned upon a
transparent gem like a diamond or a
sapphire. There are three ways of
cutting the turquoise, all much in the
same s~tyle-the fat or slightly convex
form. the truncated cone, and the tai
low drop or en- cabochon. The higher
the conical and convex surfaces in the
two latter, the more the turquoises are
priced. None but a fine deep-colored
stone a be advantageously cut into o
conical shape, since one of pale color
would appear almost white at the apex.
T~urquoises are cut by the hand on
wheels made of a composition of emery
and gum. They are afterwards pol
isbed by being rubbed on a tine-graincd
sandstone, and then on a piece of soft
leather with turquoise dust.
OF the few mines which yield good
turquoises, one or two are dangerous,
or account of the loose rubbish they
contain. The one from which the best
of all are obtained yields very few.
Some mines contain stones which look
well at first, but soon change their
color and fade. Mr.. SCHNEIDER gives |
an instance of a recently found tur-
quoise, as large as a walnut and of fine
color, being presented to his Majesty
the Shah, which he had for only two
days, when it became green and
whitish, and therefore of no value.
Throughout Europe there has been a
great fall in the price of this gem with
in the last few years, and it would seem
that this is owing to the fact that large
quantities of stones which appeared to be
OF fine quality, but were really of fugitive
color, had been disposed of not long
ago at good prices. Up to the time
they were sold, their color had
been preserved by keeping them damp;
but when taken out of their moist pack
ing, they slowly became white. 1t need
be said that the color of most
precious stones is very permanent.
There is, however, a variety of opal
occurring in Mexico which is very beau
when first found; but after a brief
time it entirely loses its bright play Of
Both the turquoise and the
opal are peculiar in containing a consid-
amount of water in their COM
position.
The color of a fine turquoise has not
escaped the notice of enamellers and
For centuries, an imitation of
It's characteristic and lovely blue has
been applied among other colors to the
exquisitely decorated pottery of Persia.
On the most expensive and perhaps
also the most beautiful of all porce-
ain, the sevres war of soft body made
n the latter half of last century, the
turquoise blue is often a conspicuous
'olor. Towards the end of the century,
when the directors Of the far-famed
changed the character of the
nina to that of a hard paste or body,
is decoration with a turquoise color
vas no longer possible. But modern
porcelain, like the old Sevres.
$ of soft paste; and one of the feats on
which our great Staffordshire postors
'ride themselves is the successful pro-
iuction upon it, in recent years, of a
oft and clear turquoise Cham
,er's Journal.