Birmingham age-herald., 1895-08-11
COUNTERFEIT GEMS.
Interesting Collection in the University of Pennsyyania-A Peculiar Industry
 of Switzerland.

l line. All varieties of precious stones are | represented, many of them being such admirable reproductions of the true orig | nals as to deceive the eye of anybody not an expert.
 l Most of them came originally from | Idar in Switzerland, which is the great | est market in the world for imitation cut | stones. Real gems used to be cut there | on an extensive scale, but that business | has gone elsewhere. The cutters are prospering, however, for the demand for l false jewelry has never been so large as now. There is an enormous sale at pres ent for cheap and counterfeit precious stones. Astonishing quantities ot these are disposed of in Europe to peasants, who care more for glitter than for quail | ity Immense numbers of them are also l exported particularly to the United l States. They are mounted in cheap set 1 tings at ProVidnce and Attleboro, the l bulk of them going west where they fur- nish a favorite article of merchandise for fakirs.
 Great quantities of agates are cut at | Idar for sale to African savages These must have peculiar forms, such as are demanded by various tribes. The latter commonly are so particular that they l will not accept them at all unless fur- nished in the shapes to which they are accustomed Stewart Culin said that primitive people generally prefer stones | of a green color. Nearly all Egyptian ann ulets are made of green porcelain, glazed. l Green is the color of life and symbolic of the vital principle. For the same req
 son jade and serpentine were highly val l ued even during prehistoric times, Tn | China and Mexico, while torquoise has | been held in equal esteem by natives Of | Asia and America.
 Primitive people generally have re- garded jewels as possessing talismanic | significance. In modern times they have | lost such meaning. Earrings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets were formerly l amulets So, likewise, in the east were | the nose ring, the anklet and the collar, 1 and among savages' the lip plug and the | ear plug Superstitions still attach to | the wedding ring, which is a survival of | a very ancient ornament and talisman Many women will never take off their wedding ring lest ill luck befal. Mag | ical ideas are to this day associated with various gems. Each bit of jewelry worn | by an Egyptian woman means some thing
 At Idar various ingenious processes are employed for making cheap natural | stones to initiate gems of value. Acids and coloring matter are used for this purpose. Counterfeit cats eyes, for ex- ample, are produced by soaking in acid | a stone called tigers eye" The latter comes from the Cape of Good Hope and is extensively utilized in such ways
 
 is reproduced by treating the ordinary | material with aniline dyes. The natural tigers eye is extremely pretty and | fetched a big price before large deposits 1 of it were discovered. In 1875 it was sold | in New York city for SIP a carat. At present you can get all you want of it | for S250 a ton. Thus do values adjust | themselves to the law of supply and de- | mand.
 If Professor Clarke is correct in his | belief that real diamonds of marketable size are destined soon to be produced in | the chemical laboratory the gems now | most priZed and considered to represent | the most stable form of value, except l ing gold alone, will drop to a few cents | carat Bartenders will regard it as vulgar to wear them and there will be | no market for cheap limitations The de- mand for counterfeit diamonds, however, 1 is enormous. They are imported into this l country at a cost of 25 cents piece by l the gross, most of them being of a pe- | culiar and very brilliant kind of lead | glass, known as "paste." Practically all of the diamonds which are stolen from l actresses in such surprising quantities l annually are of this kind. Women who | are successful on the stage usually have | good business heads, and they know too l much to travel about the country with 1 900 or $100,000 in jewel case. Even 1 ladies of fashion are very apt to lock l their gems up in safe deposit vaults em- | ploying commercials for every day use l A person of sense does not take valuable necklaces, etc., on an ocean steamer. If l you are known to possess the real dia- monds it is all that is necessary.
 The finest paste diamonds are beyond l detection except by an expert. Ordinary 1 ones are utilized to a great extent for the stage. For $7 one may purchase crown fit for monarch and incrusted with l precious stones. queens tiara. that I looks pOn6 a bo | lights, costs only s. The setting has l to be done by skilled artisans and makes | most of the expense, the loose stones | coming at only 75 cents to $1 each at re- l tail. The latter are sold in quantities | Tor robes and other theatrical garments l diamond necklace may be had for sS l while a dagger covered with rubies and diamonds as big as pigeons eggs is val | ued at sl25O. If real such a dagger would | easily fetch $200,000. An Elizabeth | crown covered with pearls, some of them as large as hazelnuts, is worth only S1 Foreign orders and decorations for the | stage are quoted at from $3 to SIS.
 mere IS no Kind of gem that is not in1- ltated by the artisans of Idar with won derful skill. The ruby is counterfeited | by combining a piece of garnet with a piece of glass, the former serving for the front and the latter for the back The | two are stuck together with transpar- ent balsam. The balsam is colored in various ways so as to diffuse whatever | tints may be desired through the stone | or glass to which it is applied In this | way two pieces of rock crystal united With balSam make an opal, and an aqua | marine is produced by a slight modifca- | tion of the same process. Artificial tur- l quoises of enamel are sold for $2.50 a. | dozen, and rubies, which are red gar | nets backed with tinfoil come at S a dozen. By such ingenious methods all | other kinds of precious stones are brought within easy reach of poor folks. The simplest device for making coun- terfeit gems is that of the so-called 'doublet," which is produced by joining two pieces of quartz-crystal with green, red or blue balsam. Superior limitations are obtained by more complicated meth ods. Paste diamonds are rendered more effective by depositing silver on the back with electricity. Diamond doublets are sometimes composed of two pieces of crystal with silver foil between. Another process consists in uniting a thin slice of real diamond to a glass base Emer- aids are counterfeited in the same way