The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1893-04-21
Precious Jewels.

There are few gems more commonly seen
in jewelry than the lovely blue turquoise. Its
beauty, its serviceable hardness, its pleasing
constrast with gold, all explain why it is so
much preferred to other ordinary stones.
Only few exceptionally fine specimens OF
the stone rank with the erich and rare gems"
Much and widely as the turquois is used for
personal adornment the supply has for some
time considerably exceeded the demand, ex-
cept for fine stones of an uncommon size.
But, as in the case with all precious stones,
unusually large pieces Of this stone, when OF
good quality, are eagerly sought after and
have very high value.
The turquois has been used as a gem from
very remote period, as it is most plentifully
found along the shores of the Caspian sea,
within the space believed by many to have
been the cradle of the human race.
1t il asserted by historians that the ancient
most delicate of their work in gold. Want
of certainty about the name by which this
stone was known in ancient times prevents
our being able to tell what mystic virtues were
attached to it, but in the mi idle ages it was
supposed to have wonderful qualities; indeed
| it was credited with many supernatural vir-
tues.
| The wearer of turquoise had his strength
increased and his sight prolonged; if he hap
| peued to have serious fall the consequences
were averted from him by the cracking and
subsequent crumbliDg of the gem, and in case
of his illness at any time his turquois became
paler and paler and if its possessor died lost
its color entirely, but recovered it again on
passing into the hands of new owner. 9th
er precious gems seem of late years to have
lost all claim to the former marvellous powers
ascribei to them, but the turquois still retains
one of It's mysterious properties and parades it
to the present dav.
Sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly 1t
turns pale, becomes spotted and finally chang
es from blue to white, and specimens of this
kind are rare and valuable.
Turquoises are found in Thibet, China and
Mount Siani, but the hahdsomest ones for
jewelers. purposes come from the Persian
mines. They are found embedded in masses
of rock, and the mines are more than one hun
dred and fifty feet deep and many laborers are
employed in them, the Oldest Of whom buy
the gems and sell them in turn to travellers
and merchante. Other men buy the rough
ones and polish them before selling. These,
oficourse, command high prices.
These stones are divided into three classes
fiji st, second and third qualities. All stones
of perfect color and shape belong to the frs!
class, but tiny speck of green, which only a
connoisseur can detect, will consign hand
some stone to second class matter. Then
there Is that undefinable property of good
turquois, like the "water" IF diamond OF
luster of pearl. In a tu1quois it is called
"zat" A fine colored turquois without the
'szat" is not worth much. Among the finest
Jewels of the shah there is turquoise valued
at $4,000. The third class stones are those
with decided flaws and unstable in Persia
The small prices offered for such there are
more than doubled by the time they reach
Europe. They are cut by hand and polished
on fine grained sandstone and then On a
piece of soft leather with turquois dust. 1t is
| quite the fashionable stone of the present day
and when set with diamonds no gem can e
quail it in beauty. An ultra society woman
is not happy until she is the possessor of such
a ;owol