Wichita eagle., 1889-09-04
TRICKS OF THE TRADE.
HOW ADVANTAGE IS TAKEN OF THE
IGNORANT PUBLIC.

Stones veneered-stuR Sold for Solid
| Gold Which Is Poorer Than Good Ar
ticle of Plate-Sman Profits.
| s'There is 10 line of business in which
! purchasers are so completely at the mer-
cy of store keepers as the jewelry trade" !"
said leading dealer. 1.-The masses are
caught by mere appearances. They know
what pleases them, but have little idea
of actual value. Few know the differ
| ence between machine made and hand
made goods; still less can tell whether
| gold Is six carats fine or whether stone
is worth SO or 500. Public trust in
these matters is absolutely pitiable.
Popular pride and ambition are stupen-
dous Mere looks and alleged price are
practically all the buyer has to go by,
and the honesty of the dealer is his only
safeguard. Then in addition to actual
grades of quality there are numerous
snide practices that are resorted to by
dlsreputable merchants and manufact-
urers, SO that if a person contemplates
buying anything where the risk is con-
siderable it behooves him to know some
thing about the man he deals with.
PAINTING AND vENEERING.
1.-TWO diamonds, for instance, may be
of the same size and cut, yet one will be
worth twice, thrice or perhaps a dozen
times as much as the other. Yellow
white diamonds are common and blue
white are scarce, and even experts find
difficulty in giving the intermediate
shades their proper place in point of dol
lars and cents. Among irresponsible
dealers 1t is a common practice to paint
the stones so as to make the yellow dia-
monds winter and the white diamonds
bluer. The paint will not even resist
soap and water, and will wear off more
quickly than the thinnest possible film
of gold on brass ring. Yet for a time
it makes the stone look twice asvaluable
as it really is. 4 few days ago gentle
man brought couple Of diamonds to me
to determine their value. After | had
washed them in soapsuds he could scarce
ly believe they We're his own jewels, they
were SO yellow. It is a common trick of
confidence men to paint diamonds and
then get loan on them of twice or
thrice their value will venture to say
that two-thirds of the people could not
tell paste from genuine diamond.
''Then there is tho process of veneer
ing other precious stones. IL zee of
glass or crystal of the desired color and
appearance IS taken as body and thin
covering of the genuine article is super
imposed so as to convey the impression
Of being genuine. Such a stone in
setting designed to cover up the de-
ception would make dupes of half the
purchasers. The danger of being taken
in would not be so great Were people
better posted. Show a man a lot out on
the prairie and tell him it is worth 500
a front foot and he will laugh at you for
presuming upon his ignorance, but show
him ruby or sapphire and tell him it is
worth $1,000 and he viii believe you
The masses know nothing about relative
values in gems, and the scope for de-
ceptiOn is enormous.
SOLID AND STUFFED GOLD.
'Then as TO quality of metal and work
manship. There is jewelry il the market
sold for solid gold which is SO low in
purity that a respectable plate would be
far preferable to the SO called solid stuff
A certain amount Of alloy is, of course,
necessary for durability, but the gold
that is actually manufactured into
jewelry varies in purity all the way from
four or six carats fine to twenty. Four
teen carats fine is the standard, but there
is an immense amount of solid stuff of
the low grade sold annually, and good
share Of it is palned off for the standard
purity. This cheap stuff is often dipped
In bath just so as to color it. The null
titudes who are ignorant enough to ac-
cept a guaranty that an article is solid
rarely think, perhaps. of degrees Of
purity, and they are wofully taken in.
As rule, there is something about all
plated and cheap stuff that betrays its
quality to the experienced eye. Every
manufacturer has his own designers,
and, though copying is rife among the
workmen, you will rarely See goods !
cheap in price without finding them
cheap in design and workmanship.
"As rule, l think people have crude |
ideas about our profits. The price Of
jewelry is due principally TO the scarcity
of the material used and the amount OF
labor expended upon it. do not think
that we get more than % per cent. gross /
profit on the average. When it is borne |
in mind that styles are constantly chang !
ing that n large amount Of capital is
bound up, bearing no interest, and that
the value Of the goods is constantly de- I
preciatiCg, owing to the tiux OF styles, /
this is no. above or even up 70 the ave /
rage. If we could turn our money over .
rapidly and not suffer loss from depre- .
citation we would have a pretty good .
thing; but the numerous failures in the .
jewelry business bear witness 20 what .
say about small margins Of profit. Dia-
mond dealers have possibilities of max
ing grea: profits legiimateiy, since, /
when bought in the rough, the stones
often turn out exceptionally well
have known q diamond valued at $500 .
TO be recut and then sell readily for 3d.
600. Chicago News.
A Living Example
Brown-I thought l told you TO save
avery cent YOU cot SO you would have