The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-09
FRAUDS In JEWELRY.
A DIAMOND EXPERT TALKS ABOUT
TRICKS IN THE GEM TRADE.

j. mountain Geus - " avs OF counter
feiting Precious Observation-Disclosures
q and Painted Diamonos-Jewels From
b the Beaches-ArtihciaI Rubies and
3 Pearls-NeckIaces of Mummies' Eyes.
, From The Washington star.
There is a New York jeweer who claims
TO manufacture imitation diamonds by a
new process, which consists in electro
plating bits Of rock crystal with a solution
Of diamond dust In bydro1uoric acid. The
stones find ready sale, notwithstanding
the fact that such a process is palpa5ly i'm
practicable. To begin with, diamond dust
is not soluble in hydrofuoric acid. As a
matter of fact the counterfeit gems are
simply French paste, with kind Of glass
containing an extra quantity of lead. When
cut In facets it has more play of color and
fire than rock crystal, though without luster.
Enormous quantities of paste diamonds
are imported TO New York and distributed
over the United States every year. They
cost about % cents a piece by the gross.
| They are made IN France, where the BUSH
ness of cutting them is an extensive in
| dustry Wholesale dealers here do them up
IN parcels OF white paper, numbered &C
cording TO size. Hundreds Of thousands Of
them are mounted in plated jewellery at
| Providence AID Attleboro. A mauufact-
urer who wishes to make fifty gross of
cheap diamond rings or studs sends on a
sample stud and ring with an order for a
corresponding number Of stones" Of the re-
! CURED size.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GEMS.
In the west there is a great sale for
Rocky mountain gems" as they are
called. They are supposed to be precious
stones of various kinds obtained from rich
deposits of such valuable minerals along
the backbone Of the continent. In reality
they are nothing hut cut glass The fakir
who deals in them usually comes to town
in the guise Of a jewel merchant
or some other reputable business estab-
lishment on the principal street,
wherein he spreads out attractjvely a
lot of red. blue and green "sparklers," in
| GLIDING a choice assortment of alleged
diamonds. The colored ones are represented
as rubies, sapphires and emeralds all native.
They are not worth 10 cents each, but they
sell for dollars, being usually weighed out
by the karat for the sake of impressiveness.
| Not long ago a vendor in such wares in New
! York palmed off a number Of 25-cent dia-
monds at the rate OF S13 a karat. Suit was
brought against him, but he escaped on the
ground that the gems" had not been re-
turned to him as unsatisfactory within
thirty days.
TIE eULLIBLE PUBLIC.
George F. Kunz, the New York diamond
expert, had a conversation In Denver with
one Of these fakirs, who told him that he
had made $4,000 at the business In three
months on a capital Of SIT. "a lady came
in here the other day" said Mr.. Kunz to a
writer for the Star, with some glass gems
in silver settings. She wanted them set in
gold, but suggested to her that silver was
quite good enough for them. She was as
tonished to learn that they we're not real
precious stones, having been obliged to wait
three weeks at a hotel in Hot Springs,
Ark, while dealer there pretended to
be engaged in cutting them.
People are so commonly gullible
| that it Is no wonder swindlers are SO plenti~
full. Glass diamonds and rubies are aften
made brilliant and given an artificial luster
by sllverinR the settings at the back, or by
fitting small metal caps filled with mercury
over the stones behind. An old method is
to take piece of rock crystal, heat 10 and
dip it into cold colored solution. This
cracks the crystal, which is intiltrated by
the coloring matter so as to give it the look
of a sapphire, emerald or what not OF
course 1t has the appearance of being very
much tawed. Another process is to make
the gem out of two pieces of crystal. join
ing them with transparent green, red or
blue cement. The color of the cement ap-
pears to the eye disseminated through the
stone.
THE EFFECTIVE DOUBLETs.
THE most effective counterfeits of
/ precious stones are what are known as
q 'doublets.' To make an explanation clear
let us consider diamond to be divided into
two parts by the plane OF the girdle. Now,
If you substitute piece OF French paste for
the lower part OF the stone and fasten it
, with transparent glue to the upper part
! you have doublet. 1t is nothing but biz
OF glass with real diamond top, but it is
a to har
! expert The usual method Of manufacture
Is TO take thin slip Of diamond for the top,
, uniting 1t with gum mastio to the paste
bottom. Surprising that the top weighs a
, carat and half and 10 worth 1925 the lmi-
: tation thus produced will weigh four carats
. and will represent stone having a value of
: $1,000. But doublets are most commonly
made with rubies, sapphlres and emeralds
10 manufacture an emerald in this way the
' top may be OF red garnet, whiterock crystal
or white topaz. Green glass is used for the
bottom, and the two are attached with gum
mastic. Though it seems incredible, the
green or the glass neutralizes the red rays Of
the garnet so that they are not perceptible
III garnet is employed, the joining is best
effected by heating when the surfaces are
slightly fused. The process is the same for
rubies and sapphires, only that red glass
and blue glass are used for them respectively.
CoLoRING sAPPHIREs.
"Wh sapphires are made to look blue
and thus multiplied many fold in value by
mere touch of blue coloring on the point
at the bottom of the stone, throughout
, which the blue rays distribute themselves.
The same effect is sometimes obtained by
the use of little blue enamel in the Sc ting
{ Speaking OF painting GENE, l dare
say you remember Tne sensation that
was made few years ago by a newly in
vented fraud which consisted ia applying a
blue aailine wash to off-color and slightly
yellow diamonds. The process made them
[ seem brilliant blue white, increasing their
apparent value enormously. A great many
OF these cheats were successfully marketed
but 1t happened one day that purchaser
washed one of them in alcohol, which
promptly removed tho tint. They were
quite water proof.
SELLING POOR STONES.
Most of the cheating in diamonds is
= done by selling poor stones for good ones.
! There is a popular lotion that diamonds can
: be bought more cheaply from pawnbrokers
than from reputable jewelers. Neverthe-
less, 1t is likely that the money lenders are
: very we'll acquainted with the value OF the
stones they offer for sale. and the gems ex-
posed in their windows on white cards