Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-09-07
GEMS AND INVITATIONS.
LONDON THE MARKET FOR THE
SALE OF ROUGH DIAMONDS.

LONDON THE MARKET FOR THE
SALE OF ROUGH DIAMONDS
in Pari--FaI>s Diamonds and Patent
Imitation PearIs-The Opal and Ill
Luck-The Moonstone-Tiger Eye.
.Yes, can tel you good deal that you
would like to know about precious stones,
said a Nassau street dealer, a few days ago.
To begin with diamonds, theSe are almost
all found ut the Cape diamond fields nova
davs. in South Africa. though some and
better grade are still obtained from Brazil
| old mine diamonds, aS they are called. All,
or nearly all, are taken to London, which Is
the one great general market for rough dla-
mondS There are dealers in various parts of
that CITY, hut the center of the trade there Is
Hatton garden. near Ludgate hill. From
thence a great many are taken to Amsterdam
to lie cut; others are cut III Antwerp or in
Paris. and they have lately begun t" cut
them extensively in Germany. From these
places they are sold and shipped all over the
world.
.'Sham diamonds are manufactured prlnCi-
pally IN Paris Some very fine ONES. that 10y
all hut experts would be taken to be real, are
manufactured there. The smaller the stone
the more easy is the imitation IL Is very
seldom the sham diamonds are sold Tor true
ones as even pawnhrOkerS. who are not
usually considered very S'rupulouN. do not
,are to run the risk But regular SwindlerS
| 90 about who carry two or thru" III their
| po,kets. and by various representations ire
,uently induce easily -dupcd persons to pur-
| rhas. under the impression that they are
making a wonderful bargain. People who
Ioess a real stone from cluster IN ring or
| other pis,e of iewelry will frequently have It
replaced with sham stone.
MAKING FALSE DIAMONDS.
There is only one way Of making false dla-
monds. 4 piece of crystal, or of the very
clear kind of glass known As paste, Is cut to
resemble diamond by experienced workmen
and very finely finished Off BY this means
the requisite amount Of brilliancy is obtained.
| The principal points to lie observed are the
polish and the due regularity of the facets.
| There is a very large trade in sham diamonds
doing this year | have sol many more than
ever before and everyone else IN the trade
SAWS the same People are 50 fascinated with
| diamonds now that they won't look at n piece
| of iewelry that hasn't one IN it, either rea! or
| falSe Diamonds are doubtless sometimes
made bv cutting a slip of diamond, a very
| thin one and attaching it to a base OF glass or
.rystal Then they are exposed to u great
| heat. until the connecting surface OF the glass
| Is fusei 10 the diamond But this proves, Is
| seldom used. As the diamond employed re
| nuir,ss IN H., Of very fine quality.
"Rhinestones are made of glass, continued
| the dealer, and 50 is every other goOd-lo
| ing sham diamond, no matter by what name
| il NAV be called You can hardly ever get u
sham diamond of crystal to show the bril-
lance of one cut from glass and the latter
| wears best, too.
"Of other imitation stones, some very poor
coLored ones are made OF glass, but the major
ity are 'doubletS' That i to say, u very thin
slab of garnet, the cheapest real stone we
sell, is affixed To a hacking of culored glass 10y
| the sing process. Then they resemble one
stone, aud when set no one but n trained ex-
pert could recognize the difference. The test
| of a file to the glass when they are removed
| from the setting, reveals the sham at once, as
the steel bites on glass, but runs smoothly
| over true stones. \ trained eye tells the dif-
set by th.. greater lIster of the former. Most
imitation stones sold in this and other coun-
tries are manufactured i'll Bohemia where
| the work is done at n very low price.
Real stones of color are many Of them Of
great value Rubles. good and large, are very
| scarce. and more costly, weight for weight,
than diamonds Those of poorer class are,
| however, much cheaper Next To them come
Of
| priced nearly as high aS diamonds, though
not So high as ruhitS. Small and imperfect
stones are cheap enough. The saInc applies
to emeralds. Large pearls are still very cost
| ly, if of fine color ami regular shape. The
best pearls are found only i'll the Indian
seas Attempts have heen made to cultivate
the pearl oyster in Italian waters. but with
little success 80 far. There are also Amer
lean pearls, coming from Texas and from
| Panama. but these are not very valuable, as
they lack the luster Of the Others.
PATENT IMITATION PEARLS.
The last time was in Paris | came across
a man who claimed TO have a patent upon a
new method of making imitation half pearls.
Pearls, as you may know, are frequently cut
in half for setting. He showed me some of
his make, and it was really all excellent
imitation. ! ordered some direct from Bo
hemia where they were made, and they
turned out Just a good the sample But
how they are made is a secret which can't
tell you. because do not know.
There is no difficulty in initiating any of
the precious stones except the opal. The
changing. the ever-varying colOrs in that
stone, as the light upon it changes, have
hitherto proved more than a match for the
most skillful copyist But opals, notwith-
standing their beauty, are i'll small demand,
the belief in the superstition that they bring
ill-luck is 50 prevalent You may scarcely
believe it, but there are good many people
in this very city who would not accept All
opal to-day if you would make them pres,
ent of it. ! fancy the belief has its birth in
the fact that opals are so brittle and liable to
fracture. More than one-half are broken in
course OF setting.
THE new stone, the moonstOne, which is
obtained in India, is rather popular now and
has become cheaper lately" He produced
small tray of moOnstOnes with canoes cut in
high relief ON their faces A luSter that GER
tainly did resemble moonlight CLEANED from
the interior Of these curious crystalline bodies.
On the tray lay another stone, cut with
similar cameo But this was a dark coffee
colored Opaque stone, of insignificant appear.
ance The reporter picked it up ard
strange glow of golden light, that seemed to
shine from its very center, glittered from the
various surfaces as it vas turned around in
the light.
That" said the diamond merchant, "is
tiger eye, a stone that has a history as curl
Gus as its appearance. Ten years ago it was
unknown 1t is found on South African
farms and :hs,des. At first it was only
nicLod III, in rr,n,Itn frn nrrnnntS and ,rnS ,,t