Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-08-22
,pr OF THE LApIDARIEs.
The skill Needed 10 Prepare "e"'
for the Wearer.
New York SUM


oil. IS applied 10 the edge Of the iron
plate. a raised edge around the table pre-
venting the loss OF dust. A small guam
tity is put on the disk, and from time 70
time renewed. When cut, the stone -
ground on horizontal wheels called laps,
made OF lead. iron. copper, tin. or Alloys
and sometimes OF wood OF different de-
grees OF hardness. On these IS spread
emery. diamond or cOrundum-powder.
For some gems wheels are used. covered
with cloth. leather. or hard brushes. Inc
emery. finely ground. gradually imoeas
Itself firmly In the lead or other soft me-
tai OF which the wheels are made. The
stone. firmly cemented 10 gem stick
With shelac and brick-cust. is pressed
against the wheel. The facets, or hat
surfaces, which give briiliancy 70 trans
parent stones. are cut b. a simple con-
triyance. BY the side Of the horizontal
grinding wheel is placed an heavy. up
right. club-like piece Of wood. resembling
long-necked. narrow bottle reversed
In this. Ia different places. notches are
cut. As It royolves the gem presses on
the wheel and the surface is cut away.
To make a new facet, the rod ho.ling
the gem is held against a notch, which
gives a new inclination. or 4 new angle.
\ wooden instrument is used BY some
iapidaries to hold the gem stick. the IA
Gets being adjusted by q mechanical con-
trivance. Only in the very cOmmOnest
imitation work Is the stone held 10 the
hand. The diamond powder used Is made
from bort, or imperfect coarse diamonds,
selling at from Is cents 70 B. per carat. The
wofkmen acquire wonderful. facility in
shaping and polishing stones. and from
a given pattern Will produce the required
object with great rapidly.
The finest cutting Of precious stones IS
done In London. Paris. New York. and
Boston. and in the Jura; az semi-preci0us
stones In Paris and the Jura: OF gsrnets
I'm Bohemia; OF amethyst citrine. Span
ish topaz Drown topaz in Paris. Ober-
stein. etc; Of blue white, and green
topaz, amethysts. green garnets, Jaspers,
agate. rock crystal. etc. in wonderful
perfection in the Ursl mountains. Imi-
tation stones are cut In Paris and the
Jura: in Jurnsu and Gablonz in Bohemia,
and IN Providence. r. J.
Until the fourteenth century a. gems
We're either cut en cabOchOr-ihat j.,
convex on one side Ike a carbuncie. Or
IN the form Of beads drilled from both
sides IN such q rude manner that the
two perf0ratiCns net very lmperfectiy
The latter may have been the Oriental
custom brought 20 Europe by Fn4ell-
clans, OF other merchants from that quar-
ter. or introduced during the period Of
the Crusades Some ~ the finest gems
in the crowns Of austria. Germany. and
Russia are sapphires and emeraIds that
have been pierced Ia this manner
The Orien,als polish precious stones In
all manner Of ire gular shapes. according
10 the form Of the piece when found,
and even lately In India gems have been
cut partly with facets and partly round
T~ff fr rf...r az
20 be suspended By wire.
Rubies. sapphlres, chyso5eryls, alexan-
drites. moonstCnes. and Indian garnets
are cut almost entirely in London. Paris,
and the Jura. These are sent o Europe,
principally 20 London. where the COM
mission houses receive offers on the
various parcels from America, France,
and other quarters OF the globe.
Gem cutting is carried on in Ceylon.
but almost entirely in the primitive
Ceylonese style-viz.. with little regard
for beauty. but simply FOR the purpose
Of retaining as much weight as possible.
The English Oriental stCne-cutters are
preferable. although some OF the most re-
markable work ever done is that Of the
French lapidaries
In modern times the cutting OF garuets
has almost entirely been confined 20
single district in Bohemia. where the
part OF the sixteenth century. II may be
that many Of the earnets found IN the
early Etruscan and Byzantine remains
consisting OF fiat plates, garnets set in
gold. as well as beads and gems Oh
which were incised neurological subjects,
were originally brought by traders from
Pegu. and other loca.it In India, rather
than from the Bohemia district, where
there are now so miners, 900 cutters,
and 300 dealers engaged In this single
industry in the kingdom. At Jeypore, in
India. are situated large cutting works
employing native WOTkmen, who have
been taught By foreigners.
About 100 % watches with jewelled
works are annually manufactured in the
United States requiring about l2Oo GO
Jewels. or from seven 10 twenty-one for
each watch; OF these 5.011.0o0 are ruby and
sapphire and 10000 are garnet jewels
valued at over $1,000. Most Of them are
imported, but one large company does its
own cutting. employing about 200 hands,
ard ii is hoped that American jewels VIII
soon be used. To be OF value for this
purpose. the material need not be OF fine
color and brilllancy. but must be fiawless.
Of some decided shade OF red or blue, and
Of greater hardness than quartz
Many Of the aboriginal stone objects
found IN North America and elsewhere
are marvels OF lapidarian skill IN chip
ping. drilling. grinding. and polishing.
Few lapidaries could duplicate the arrow
points OF obsidlan from New Mexico, or
those Of Jasper. agate. agatized wood.
and other minerals found along the VILLA
mette river. oregon. No lapidary could
drill a hard stone object more true than
some Of the banner stones, tubes, and
Z other objects made Of quartz green stone,
D Fa in
Carolina. Georgia. and Tennessee; or
make anything more graceful in form and
/ general outline than some Of the quartz
discoidal stones found In these same
/ States. The latter objects are often from
I four 10 six inches. and occasionally seven
| inches in diameter, ground I'm the centre
until they are Of the thinness OF paper
/ and almost transparent and the great
/ regularity OF the two sides would almost
suggest that they had been turned IN
4 a lathe.
| In the Volkerkunde Museum at Berlin
! is a remarkable specimen OF lapidary
work. II is An obsidian ear-ornament
| TWO and one-half inches IN diameter and
/ one and one-fourth inches in height, a
| perfect circle Of smOke-gray Obsidlan.
! the thickness Of the stone in the centre
ring being not more than one twenty
fifth of an inch. Few OF our present lapi-
! daries. with all modern appliances, could
produce better work. In the same col
| lection IS a unique and interesting object,
a corn husk Of jadeite. clinging 10 which
is an animal resembling a monkey or q
rabbit, the ornamentation Of which is
| scratched in.
Certain rules have been laid down fol
! detecting forgeries OF ancient gems. yet
! all are quite useless when the work IN
! question Is that Of a clever forger. who
| has carefully studied and copied the
| characteristics Of the genuine antique.
The fact is, in no other class OF art Is
| il so difficult 10 distinguish the genuine
from the false. because age makes no al
| - fr# rri