Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1889-05-09
JEWELLERS TRICKS.
Diamonds Painted and Precious
Stones Veneered.

opCl1CS tSIlSeTGu.
'There is no line of business in which
purchasers are so completely at the mer-
cy. OF re-keepers as the jewelry trade, "
SAID a leading dealer to a Chicago Neaos
reporter. ''The masses are caught by
mere appearances. They know what
pleases them, but have little idea of ac-
tual value. Few know the difference
between machine-made and handmade
goods; still less can tell whether gold is
SIX carats fine on whether stone is worth
$l0 or 500. Public trust in these mat
tiers is absolutely pitiable Popular
PRIDE and ambition are stupendous
Mere looks and alleged price are practi-
cally what the buyer has to go by, and
the honesty of the dealer is his only safe
guard. Then in addition to actual
grades of quality there are numerous
snide practices that are resorted to by
dlsreputable merchants and mauufactur-
ers, 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.
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 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 time
it makes the stone look twice as valua-
BILE as it really is A few days ago a
gentleman brought a couple of diamonds
to me to determine their value. After I
had washed them in soapsuds he could
scarcely believe they We're his own
jewels they were SO yellow. 1t is a COM
mon trick of confidence men to paint
diamonds and then get a loan on them
of twice or thrice their value 1 will
venture to say that two-thirds of the
people could not tell paste from a
genuine diamond
Then there is the process of veneer
ing other precious stones. A piece of
glass or crystal of the desired color and
appearance is taken as a body and a
thin covering Of the genuine article is
superlmposed so as to convey the i'm
preston of being genuine. Such stone
in setting designed to cover up the
deception would make dupes of half the
purchasers. The danger Of being taken
In would not be so great were people
better posted Show man a lot out on
the prairie and tell him it is worth 800
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 81, 900 and he will believe you.
The masses know nothing about relative
value in gems, and the scope for decep-
ton is enormous.
"Then as to quality of metal and
workmanship. There is jewelly in the
market sold for solid gold which is so
low in purity that 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 manufac-
tured into iewelry varies i'll purity all
the way from four or six carats fine to
twenty. Fourteen 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
".
cheap stuff is often dipped in a bath
just so as to color it, The multitudes
VINO are ignorant enough to accept q
guaranty that an article is solid rarely
think perhaps of degrees of purity and
they are wofully taken in. As u rule
there is something about all plated and
cheap stuff that betrays its quality to
the experienced eye. Every manufac
has Il,
copying is rife among the workmen, you
will rarely see goods cheap in price
without finding them cheap in design
and workmanship.
Gas rule, 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. Idonot think
that we get more than rs per cent. gross
profit on the average. When it is borne
in mind that styles are constantly
changing, that large amount of capital
is bound up, bearing no interest, and
that the value OF goods is constantly de-
preciating, owing to the flux of styles,
this is not above or even, up to the
average. If we could turn our money
over rapidly and not suffer loss from de-
probation we would have pretty good
thing; but the numerous failures IN the
jewelry business bear witness to what ]
say about small margins Of profit.
Diamond dealers have possibilities OF
making great profits legitimately, since,
when bought in the rough, the stones
often turn out exceptionally well.
have known diamond valued at 81 800
to be recut and then sell readily for
000 ,,