The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-25

" But perhaps you are tired of talking
about diamonds. You must not forget
that there are other precious stones in
the world besides diamonds that are just
as interesting to talk about You may
not know that perfect ruby of pigeon
blood tinge is, according to its size, far
more valuable than diamond of equal
size. Here is ruby, perfect Burmese
stone, which is worth $3.50 a carat 1t
weighs about carat and an eighth. Let
me hold 1t under the light for you. Do
you see that peculiarly brilliant shaded
mat IS the genuine pigeon blood. 1t is to
be found only in the oriental ruby. Those
stones have always been rare and are
each year becoming more scarce and more
valuable What is known in the world of
precious stones as the oriental ruby comes
from but just one little spot on the
earth's surface, that is Burmah,
In the East Indies. People are familiar
with the fact that the oriental potentates
set far more store upon their rubies than
they did upon their diamonds. The pro-
ductlon of the ruby from the earth is
practically at an end. Some ten or twelve
years ago, when the Burman empire re-
belled against the British government,
and British troops ivaded their territory,
and reduced them TO subsection, the ra-
iahs and other oriental rulers took re-
venge by filling up the ruby mines Ruby
mines are like American silver mines,
" orked at great depths. To fill them up,
therefore, meant the utter extinction of
their product. Since that time a syndi-
cate of Holland and English capitalists
have been working by the aid of costly
machinery to reopen some of these
ruby mines, but l cannot hear
that they have met with any
success. The worlds supply of rubies
is now replenished mostly from the pos
,f
rulers, and it will readily be seen that
each year the supply must become less.
Already it has become so that nobody but
royal courts, museums and people of
enormous wealth feel justified in paying
the prices that must be demanded for
oriental rubies OF any commanding size.
A fve-earat ruby2 Well, l would not
know where to find one, and if [ did
don't believe l could raise money enough
to pay for it unless l was certain of a Gus
TONER 1t is well known that diamonds
increase in value with their size
almost ten fold, but a gen.
uine oriental ruby would in
crease in such proportion that a stone of
any great size would be worth a kings
ransom. There are two lower grades of
rubies which are of far less value. Next
to the oriental ruby is the spinel ruby.
That also is an East India stone, but has
iancy of its regal brother. 1t is worth
about half as much per carat. Then as
member of the ruby family we have
the Almandip ruby. Some people call
these California rubies. They are good
imitation of a ruby and are natural stones.
In fact they constitute tive-sixths of the
rubies which we see on the hands of
the people. They are worth from So to
$40 carat.
sAPPHIREs becoming sCARCER.
"Here are some pretty sapphires Sap
phires likewise come from the East In
dies, and they are worth all the way from
So to S65 a carat. These, too, are becom-
ing scarcer, and the cost of them must
necessarily be on the increase. Unlike
the oriental ruby, there is nothing in
cheaper goods to take the place of the
sapphire. The demand for these stones,
however, is not great, for indulgence in
them is a matter of tase, and the same
may be said of emeralts. Emeralds are
not worn nearly as much as they were ten
years ago. Most of the emeralds in the
worlds supply come from the Central
American states. They are mined very
much like the ruby, at great depths, but
the great difficulty with them is that the
moment they are exposed to the air and
light they are liable to crack and splinter
in all directions. 1t is, therefore, very
difficult to ind an emerald of any size
that is perfect, and when you do find one
it is worth about $40 carat"
The only stone that can be classed
among the precious stones that are found
in America in any quantity is turquoise
Last year the turquoise product of New
Mexico, the only place they are to be
found, amounted 10 $4,000. The Amer
lean turquoise is, however, inferior 10
that produced in Persia. The latter is
darker and of a more durable hue. Amer
lean turqoise is pale and is very apt to
change color under the influence of heat
and light. The American turquoise is
worth about 81 a carat, while the Per-
sian article ranges from 81 to $40.
So many stories are ahoat in the news
papers and so many exaggerated tales of
the fabulous values of individual precious
stone collections in the United States
have gone abroad that it might be inter
esting to know what these diamond eX-
perts have to say on that topic. When
asked what lady in America he thought
had the most valuable collection of pre-
cious stones the merchant reflected seYe-
raj moments.
II think l may say without danger of
error that Mrs. William Astor has the
finest private collection, not only in
America but in the world. / mean by
private collection a collection distinct
lIOul IllOSC u I4uIOI1Cdu SONCL hlAituto anu
crowns. If l were asked to put value
upon what I know Mrs. Astor has
would say that s., 100000 was a fair esti-
mate. ! saw the lady one night at pa
triarchs' ball in New York and l tell you
it was a sight for a lapidary artist.
think she wore on that occasion alone
Jewels to the value Of not less than 81,
900, 600 OF course there are other men,
bers of the Aston family who own very
valuable collections. but nothing that
will begin to equal Mrs. William Astor's.
There is another American lady who is
reputed 70 have an enormous collection,
and that is Mrs Stanford, of California.
1t is a large collection, but it Is not nearly
as valuable, as popular opinion has it,
nor is it a well-chosen one. l know that
Mrs. Stanford has many pieces and speci-
mems for which she paid twice their real
value"
How about Chicago's possessions ?"
"There are few valuable collections in
Chicago was the answer, which is not
unnatural. To collect a store of precious
stones of real and undisputed value is not
the work OF weeks or months, but of
years. The Chicago people of wealth,
while they are liberal buyers. do not
throw money away in any large quanti-
ties. There are two or three good collec-
tions here. The finest by far is owned by
Mrs. Potter Palmer. l would not dare to
give you an estimate of what her collec-
ton is worth, for l do not know, but it is
away beyond that of any lady In the city,
/ !. Il L..