, 1888-10-16
A JEWELERS. TREASURES
All Gold Does not Gntter-Diamonds for
Forty CONGRATULATIONS.

Forty
Sometimes l think that the adage, cali
is not gold that glitters, needs to be re-
constructed by people in our line of bust
ness and made to read, a gold does not
glitter, " remarked. one of the leading
manufacturing jewellers Of Pittsburg to
the writer. In proof of this assertion he
exhibited several pieces of gold, as nearly
pure as it can be, and still be worked to
good advantage. The material looked
very much like old brass, and was SO
dfngy and fusterless that none but an ex=-
pert would have pronounced it gold.
Two small straight pieces, in shape and
size very much like small horseshoe nails,
were shown, and these, the jeweler said,
would be transformed into the main por-
ton Of a finger ring, after being bent,
shaped and properly joined together. The
piece designed to form the top of the ring
in which the stone is set, is separate. 1t
is shaped like a tray, having been given
this form by a die or stamp, by mean
Of which it was cut from a piece of rolled
gold.
The manufacturer next unlocked his
safe and brought forth some of its rare
monds, rubies, pearls, emeralds, sap
HAhSo "L4Sht y olN CSOlNo u SbllC
precious stones, in infinite variety, from
all parts of the earth.
"We are obliged to keep a large stock
ouhand, +" said the jeweler, ''much larger
than the eastern manufacturers, who are
able to send out and buy what they want
at any time. A good deal of our work
consists in the making of badges, pins,
medals and other designs to order, at
short notice, and a large assortment of
precious stones is therefore Indispensable.
We have diamonds of every size, ranging
from large and perfect stones several
carats in weight and worth hundreds of
dollars, down to the merest speck, cost
ing less than half a dollar. Yes, you can
buy q genuine diamond for 40 cents, but
it won't be large enough to be remarka-
bly, conspicuous. Pearls, too, we nave
in great numbers, some larger than peas
and others smaller than pinheads. The
greater part of these gems are cut and
polished abroad. Even the California
pearl, fished from the ocean by divers
along the Pacific coast, goes abroad to
the hands of German lapidaries, and is
then brought back to this country to be
set in jewelry. The greater number of
pearls found are imperfect, and all such
have to be cut, making what are known
as half pearls.
eve carry, also, a large stock of imi-
tation stones. Every real gem is imi-
tated, and the more precious the stone
the greater will be the number of imita-
lions. Many of the limitations are SO per-
feet that only experts can distinguish
them from the genuine. ALI stones for
settings are bought by us, cut and pol
ished and ready for use. They are all
graded according to the French measure
ment, and the packages containing them
marked with the exact size of each
piece in millimetres. Take this line of
%turquois, for instance, and you will OBJ
serve that each has the same pattern rum
ming through all the different sizes.
Fashion rules in jewelry, as in every
thing else. A stone at one time very
popular in rings may go out of style en-
tirely in a few years. Hence, unless we
take the utmost care, we are liable to
have IN accumulation of costly material
or our hands, with no chance of getting
rid of it until fashions caprice brings it
into favor again"
For weighing diamonds and other
precious stones a very delicate instru-
ment, known as the diamond scale, is
used. 1t consists of balances, and is 30
delicate that it will turn when a weight
equal to n sixty-fourth part of a carat
is placed upon it. The smaller weights
used on the scales are of aluminium, the
lightest metal known, and q piece one
sixty-fourth of a carat in weight is but a
small, flmy scale that the breath would
move.-E. w. Bartlett in Pittsburg Dis
patch.