The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-10-03
A DIAMOND MARKET.
EXPERTS IN PARIS WHO KNOW
ALL THE PRECIOUS STONES.

lions of Dollars Represented in One
1t was the Able Hauy who subjected
diamonds TO the toughest treatment. He
used 10 take a hammer and smash them.
lie did the same with emeralds, rubies
and sapphires, just as if they were worth
nothing. By this heroic treatment the
venerable able discovered that the
broken particles Of all precious stones
have particular forms which establish
their g~enuineness beyond all doubt. Be
fore his time it was almost impossiblet to
tell a diamond from a brilliant or a piece
Of rock crystal.
But now nobody breaks precious stones.
Any 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 a little fellow: it is worth SO much"
And he is never deceived. At the pres
ent time everybody is somewhat of a
| dealer, and the consequence is that
everybody can distinguish a real dia-
mOnd amOng a thousand bogus stones.
On the second floor of a cafe in the
Boulevard Montmartre the market or
bourse Of precious stones is held, always
in broad daylight. Very few strangers
to the trade can penetrate this sane
| tuary, not because the access to 1t is
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 the
stranger only finds a few dull eyed Jews,
carelessly playing a game of bezlque.
All, but there is a Turk there, too; the
Turk that looks so much like COudere,
of the Opera COmique, except that he IS
yellow and wears very loose trousers,
but these trousers are full Of diamonds.
Don't believe for a moment that these
good Jews, the merchants in precious
stones. are afraid Of robbers. That is
the smallest thing that bothers them.
What they dread is to let the p%rofane,
and especially the small jewelers., know
the real value of their goods.
As soon as the stranger departs the
arms stretch out and the portfolios re-
appear. The greater number Of these
portfolios are made of tin and are closed
with a lock and key. In a moment the
tables are covered with little bundles OF
white paper formed like those in which
the druggists pat rhubarb or sulphate
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 startle the king of Persia.
A strange spectacle is presented by those
sordid old men quietly taking from their
pockets three or four millions worth
Each one of perhaps 10000 packages
contains so many b%rilliants. After they
are disposed of the rare stones are intro,
duced. Here there are sapph1res as big
as nuts. There lies a black diamond
almost as large as the twelve pearls that
surround it. Here again is a necklace
made of fifteen emeralds that WoulC
make as many ~snuffboxes, certainly no
big enough for NJ. Hyacinthe, of thu
Palais Royal, but too big beyond a doub
t for the nose of Mile. ID.
Y Here is a rare bargain" shouts on
o of the merchants, One of the fines
pieces of ancient jewelry known! 1t
a necklace that belonged to Madame |
Princesse de Guemenee. Mounting
diamonds and all are ancient. Primo
i Proisetoiloff refused rs, 900 francs for
a twenty years ago"
The necklace is passed from land t
hand. The merchants gaze at 1t wit
~ attention. The eyeglasses come int
y; nIav. INDIGESTION and doubt are palnte
We mon some faces. At last the necklac
is passed to Michel. He IS the grea
indre. He takes the thing, weighs 1t l
his hand, looks at it with an lndlfterer
air and SAYS, The w br1lllants al
- ancient. They come with their noun
ing from the Countess de PreJean. In
~ two others, still finer, once formed pa
of q necklace which was stolen IN NenlC
in 1904 from Mime. MOrOslnl. This nee
lace belonged later on to Lady tempt
whose husband purchased it at Candat
( of Isaac Lie ven. Lady Temple gave
to her daughter, who sold 1t three da.
after her marriage. As for the sapphl
we in the center, that comes from the sa
of Mile. Schneider. The rest is new al
comes direct from Hamburg. Bu
IQ, after all, it is we'll preserved, and 1919
francs does not seem to be too much I
it."
& As extraordinary as it may appe
Inblt are la" AAS
viduals who know all the costly di
monds and all the rich jewels IN t
world, and they are able to recogni
them after a lapse of thirty years, ev
when they had first only seen them
moment, as certainly as a tailor wou
& recognize at thirty PAGES the custom
that forgot to pay him.
When a robbery is committed III I
house of a well known jeweler, a thu
which often happens in Paris, Lond(
ly Vienna and St. Petersburg, If there
among the objects stolen a stone OF m
than ordinary value it is sure to be tou
7. again, although it may take many ye'
% bring it back to its owner.-Flgaro
fms. A Word to Young People
Out You must be willing to bear revers
You must expect disappointments. \
n Ill 81