The Grenada gazette., 1888-02-25
FRAUDS IN GEMS.
Valuable Hints to Those Who Own
Diamonds.
The Blue Diamond Swindle-The Frauds
of Gem Advertising Prices OF Stolen
Diamonds-Testso of Value-Imi.
tations of Diamonds,

me UIut ulanOnu, anlllne diamond,
or wash diamond swindle. was invent
ed few years ago. 1t is applied tc
off-colorel and slightly yellow dia.
monds; these, If painted on the back
with n dilute solution of anline and
alcohol. will lose their yellow colol
and appear either perfectly white or s
brilliant blue-white. This steel. blue
tint can not be removed by ordinary
washing; alcohol or some other solvent
is required to do this, and if such a
diamond thus treated is mounted in 4
water-tight or cIose-boy set ting it will
pass for long time undetected. The
first illustrious discoverer in this
field received six months imprison-
ment in Paris for his reward. Al
though Cellini described improving the
color Of a diamond so as to enhance
lis value three-foll, it was not b. the
aniIine method, however.
Diamond doublets are rarely met
with, but they have occasionally been
sold. A fyc-carat pair of doublet ear
rings was purchased by one of the
sharpest dealers in New York city,
and he did not discover their true nat
ure until he had removed them from
the mountings. Doublets are about
The only gem in which parts of the
original gem is used. Ii this case two
fiat pieces weighing one and one-half
carats each had been fastened on to
represent the crown and table Ct the
diamond and were then backed by
fine French plate. Their value was
not one-tifh what it would have been
had they been brilliants,
A great many of-colored or slightly
yellow diamonds are kept by brokers
and other dealers, nicely cleaned and
tastefully arranged on black cotton or
in black or tinted paper (usually in
black paper) in order to deceive the
purchaser as to their true color, and
are shown in the evening at private
residences. 1t is needless to point out
IN view of the fact that no expert dia.
nond merchant will buy dia.
Nond in the evening, that they
probably ''pay too dear for
Eeir whistle" If colored
stone, particularly a shallow one is
iet in platinum it is often so sunk in
she gold that the back Is not visible.
Colored stones are also set with foil,
" with a backing of black paste, to
make them appear white. Who can
look at diamond that is of fine color.
fawless, of perfect form, cut and
polish, and say that it is not an OBJ
feet of beauty? One who has seen
only inferior stones can not have
a correct idea of the true beauty of
the diamond.
Most pieces of jewelry composed of |
rose diamonds. unusually set with |
Toll. turn dark. especially when SET in
silver The dust which gathers around |
the mountings is not SO readily re-
moved as from the brilliants them.
selves which the jeweler can brighten
up with very little trouble. When
roses are set open in the back they
can be easily cleaned. Although far
greater display for less money can be
made with the rose diamond, the
above objections are so strong that
our leading jewelers. have abandoned
their use entirely. substituting brill
iants. except in cases, where owing to
the very small size of the jewel. only
roses can be used Briiliants perfect.
ly cut weigh 60 10 100 to the caret;
rose diamonds often 400 to the care,,
making oyer Ii 900 brilliants and
over 60, 900 roses to the English troy
ounce.
Notes sometimes appear in the per-
sonal columns Of the dailies describing
certain necklac or set Of jewelry.
which. owing to financial embarras..
ment, some "wi'iow' IS wiling 10
Sell at a very low price The buyer
who avails himself Of hi. opportunity.
either for sweet charity's sake or # II,
some more selfish moliv'. USUALLY gets
|ur his paius a lot IT i'm erf C. sprca
m / off-color Il sLon :, set w.ti c.osnd
ba, Ks in silver aad verr -,rec,ivci,
nouHtrd n, diamo Il den er IN Ter
'ucb circumstances won Idir vlhvu
ils} i8ain. All tho .eml 10 Al thJir