The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-11-25
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fury, when Strass, a jeweler of Paris,
| obtained or manufactured an improve
ment on the glass previously used and
gave it his name. The stones imme-
| diately became popular. Elegant wo-
men wore no others for some time, but
when after a while the brilliancy faded
! from them, they were discarded, and
/ the fair eXperimenterS returned again
to the real diamonds that never lose
/ their charms.
In 1881 Doualt Wieland. of France,
took the prize offered by the society Of
Encouragement of Arts for the best
treatise on the manufacture of imita-
ton stones. His processes were pub
liShed and ever since France has held
the lead in this industry The per-
lection of the imitation depends upon
the finished form and polish. The ma
terial must be pure and certain rules
of proportion must be followed, but
most depends upon the touch and good
Judgment of the lapidary; and large
sums have been lost in the attempt to
cut these stones by machinery. About
1900 workmen are employed in max
ing them, and the industry is very
prosperous. Most of the finer imita-
ton stones are made at st. Claude.
Sept Moncel and adjoining towns in
the France Jura mountains and at
Paris. In the Jura the secret of pro-
ducing the stones is kept closely guard
ed from generation to generation. The
medium and poorer qualities come from
Bohemia.
The Imitation Called "Doub1ets."
The form of imitation gems called
doublets is very extensively used in
modern jewelry. Some of them are
very clever limitations of the genuine
The old-faShioned doublets of twenty
years ago, chiefly made in France, con-
tanned a thin layer of some cheap real
gem, like garnet or rock salt, for the
top of the gem, while the lower portion
was of a colored glass to match, the
two being Joined together with mastic.
When looked at sideways. however, the
girdle always appeared rough, and the
line of junction was sometimes WISH
BILE. Frequent frauds and receptions
were practiced with these doublets.
Doublets are now also made by fus-
ing colored glass, or joining it with
mastic, onto a, top portion of quartz
rock crystal or garnet, so that the
color is then diffused through the whole
mass, and the top portion, which is
seen, has the appearance and luster Of
a real stone, and does not become
scratched in wear. Garnet doublets of
this kind are very numerous and pref
ty, and are often mistaken for spinel
or even for oriental rubies. The same
is true of sapphire doublets, which are
often sold to the unsuspecting as the
genuine stone.
The oriental ruby is very difficult to
initiate. but on account Of it's rarity
and costliness, imitation is frequently
attempted. In some doublets a light
shade of garnet is used On the top, to
give the appearance of spinel, or Balas
rubies, which differ in color from the
oriental ruby. None have as yet sue
ceeded in catching that peculiar violet
or purplish tint due to dichroism that
flashes out from the glorious inimit-
a BILE oriental ruby.
made with the top surface of rock
crystal or garnet, and show the color
characteristic of the genuine, though
the line of connection between the two
parts is always visible.
Diamond doublets are rarely met
with, but have occasionally been sold
A five-carat pair of doublet earrings
was purchased by one of the sharpest
dealers in New York city, and he did
not discover their true nature until he
had removed them from their mount
ings. Flat pieces weighing one carat
each had been fastened on to repre-
sent the crown and table of the dia-
mond, and were then backed by a fine
French paste. Their value was not
one-fifth what it would have been had
they been real brilliants
In the doublet, however. the true
character of the stone is determined by
testing the base, when it's softness re-
veals the deception. To avoid this, the
triplet has been devised, in which pale
sapphire, topaz or quartz is used for
both crown and base, while a thin
layer of deeply colored glass forms the
girdle, the part generally hidden by
the mount. Immersion in water is. i'm
most cases, sufficient to reveal the
cause of this illusion. If either a dol1b-
let or triplet be boiled in water, or
soaked in a bottle of chloroform, it US
ually falls apart, revealing its compos-
lite structure
The Small Cost of Making Imitation
stones
Turquoise is initiated in various
ways, sometimes by pieces of chalce-
dony dyed of the proper hue. The dust
and refuse of the turquoise workers of
the orient are made by hydraulic pres
sure into turquoises that frequently
puzzle the best of judges. The blue
carbonate of zinc, called smithsonite.
from Laurium, Greece, makes a very
deceptive turquoise, and if we take a n
lmpalpable ivory powder, precipitate it
In solution of sulphate of copper,
compress it in hydraulic press, dry
and bake it. we have fair looking i'm
itation of this beautiful stone. Chry-
socolla or silicate of copper is some
times sold as turquoise, but is softer.
Some years ago parcels of turquoise
were sent from New Mexico containing
small lots of exceptionally fine color
for American material On examination
they were found to have been stained,
the coloring matter being the same as
that used in Germany in turning the
breccia agate to initiate lapis laZuli,
that is prussian blue The simplest
test for this imposture is to wash the
stone in alcohol and then steep it in
ammonia for a few hours, when it will
resume its natural greenish hue.
In 1880 a large quantity of what was
supposed to be rich blue sapphire was
extensively sold in London. In reality
1t was a fused mixture not crystalline
body. and on analysis proved to Ger
respond to line-spineI with a hardness
no greater than glass. The color was
so good that before the deception was
detected some had been re-sold for EGO
a carat. Another attempt was made to