The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1892-10-07
A DIAMOND MARKET.
EXPERTS IN PARIS WHO KNOW
ALL THE PRECIOUS STONES.


ALL THE PRECIOUS STONES.
A Place Where n Stranger Would SEQ
No Traces Of Buying or salling--MiE
lions of Dollars Represented In One
Days Stock Carried In Queer Places
It was the Able Hauy who subjected
diamonds to the toughest treatment, Hd
used to take hammer and smash them.
He did the same with emeralds, rubies
and sapphires, just as If they were worth
nothing. By this heroic treatment thu
venerable abbe discovered that the
broken particles of all precious stones
have particular forms which establish
their genuineness beyond all doubt, Be.
fore his time it was almost impossibletd
tell diamond from O brilliant or piece
of rock crystal,
But nobody breaks precious stones
Amy dealer can take, with an indifferent
air, the diamond that is presented to him
for examination, and say without the
least hesitation, THAT weighs so much
it is little fellow; it is worth so much"
And he is never deceived. At the pres
ent time everybody Is somewhat of q
dealer, and the consequence is that
everybody can distinguish a real dia
mOnd among thousand bogus stones,
On the second floor Of a cafe in the
Boulevard MOntmartEe the market OF
bOuTse of precious stones is held, always
in broad daylight, Very few strangers
to the trade can penetrate this sane
tuaTy, not because the access to it il
difficult, for the door is always wide
open, but because the portfolios close
and the stars disappear the moment an
unknown face appears at the threshold
Instead of animated traders thd
stranger only finds few dull eyed Jews
carelessly playing game of bezique
All, but there is Turk there, too; the
Turk that looks so much like COudere
of the Opera Comique, except that he Ii
yellow and wears very loose trousers,
but these trousers are full of diamonds.
Don't believe for moment that these
good Jews, the merchants In precious
stones, are afraid of robbers. That ii
the smallest thing that hothers them,
What they dread is to let the profane,
and especially the small jewellers, know
the real value of their goods.
AS soon as the stranger departs the
arms stretch out aud the portfolios re-
appear, The greater number of these
portfolios are made of tin and are CLOSED
with lock and key, In a moment the
tables are covered with little bundles oI
white paper formed like those in which
the druggists put rhubarh or sulphata
of magnesia. These packages are open
ed, and in less time than it takes to tell
it all the tables, including the billiard
table, are covered with precious stones
that might staTtla the king of Persia
A strange spectacle is presented by those
s0rdid old men quietly taking from THEN
pockets three or four millions worth
Each one of perhaps 10000 packages
contains SO many brilliants. After they
are disposed of the rare stones ara intro
dueed. Here there are sapphiFes as big
as nuts There lies q black diamond |
almost as large Rs the twelve pearls thai
surround it, Here again is a necklace
made of fifteen emeralds that wouldt
make as many snuffbaxes, certainly nobt
big enough for NJ, Hyacinthe, of thu
Palais Royal, but too big beyond a doubt
for the nose of Mile, D. u
Here is rare bargain" shouts ont
of the merchants, lone Of the finest =,
pieces of ancient jewelry knoWnI It iA
a necklace that belonged to Madame Ii
Prineesse do Guemenee. Mounting
diamonds and all are ancient PrinCas.
Proisetoiloff refused $4,000 francs for II
twenty years ago" at
The necklace ia passed from hand tf
hand, The merchants gaze at 1t witt
attention. The eyeglasses come int
play, Indecision and doubt are painted,
upon some faces, At last the necklace
is passed to Michel. He Is the great
judge. He takes the thing, weighs IL ii
his hand, looks at it with an indifferent
air and says, 1.-THE two bTilliants arl
ancient. They come with their mount
ing from the Countess de Prejean, Thl
two others, still finer, once formed parspt
Of a necklace which was stolen In Venici9i
in 1904 from Nine Morosini. This neck I
lace belonged later on to Lady Temple
whose husband purchased 1t at CANDIDA
of Isaac Lieyen Lady Temple gave
to her daughter, who sold il three day
after her marriage. As for the sapphira 2
in the center, that comes from the sales;
Of Mile. Schneider. The rest Is new anshs
comes direct from Hamburg. Bn5ne
after all, it is we'll preserved, and 1896
francs does not seem to be too mHch f9sf'
it.H T
As extraordinary as II may appear
there are now living five o. six iHdi.
yiduals who know all the costly diG
nonds and all the rich jewels In the
world, and they are able 10 recognize
them after lapse Of thirty years, even
when they had first only seen them 4
moment, as certainly as tailor would
recognize at thirty PAGES the customel
that forgot to pay him. /
When o robbery % committed in tho
house Of . well known jeweler, q thing
which often happens III Paris, Lendog,
Vienna and St. Petersburg, IL there Ii
among the objects stolen q stone Of more
than ordinary value IL II sure to be found
again, although IL may take many years
70 bring II back 70 tts owner. Figaro.
A word 10 Yeppg Peopls.
You must pc willing % bear reyegses,
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