Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-02-10
CLEVER INVITATIONS.
RULES FOR DETECTING PASTE DlA-
MONDS AND DOUBLETS.

MINUS ANU DOUBLE ,.
A Swind1er Who Def auded London Pawn
brokers Out of 100000 in One Year
His Manner of We rking the Game Was
Simple.
A method of successful imposition
with diamonds has been discovered
and the originator of this swindle act
ually defrauded the pawnbrokers Of
London alone in one year of upward
of 100000.
The general public as we'll as jewel
ers are aware that diamonds of yell
lowish tinge, or, as they are called in
the trade, "straws," are worth very lit
tie. Large stones of this color, even
when weighing from ten to 100 carats,
are quite common, and will only fetch
in the market from C to ga per carat,
the value, of course increasing in ratio
with the weight. Diamonds of the
same weight, if of the first water, or
perfectly colorless, would be worth
from five to ten tines as much.
The methods of the individual re-
ferred to were as follows: He pur
chased a quantity of yellow stones"
and then by simple yet ingenious pro-
cess succeeded in imparting to them
an evanescent purity of color. This
was done by procuring two ordinary
glasses, kettle of boiling water, and
threepenny packet of mauve dye.
The yellow" diamond which was per-
haps set in a gold ring or pin, was
merely dipped in the glass containing
the dye and then in clean boiling wa
ter half dozen times and allowed to
dry, when it presented all the appear
ance, even to the eye of an expert, of
a magnificent stone of the first water.
The next move was to place the ring
on the finger and the well dressed dyer
would sally forth, enter pawnbroker's
and pledge the ring for at least three
times its worth. Within twelve hours,
however, the effects of the dye would
have disappeared and the poor pawn
broker could only wonder what on
earth was wrong with his eyes when
he advanced so much money on such
yellow stone.
Fortunately, owing to the magnitude
of this individuals operations, the
fraud has been discovered, and now
pawnbrokers. if they are suspicious of
diamonds color, Immense it in nitric
acid, which, of co lrse, destroys any
dye that may be presented without in
any way injurng the stone.
Rubies, sapphires and emeralds may
be initiated so exc 9llently in paste
as to deceive any eye, but the hardness
of these gems cannot be impaired to
glass or paste For fraudulent pur-
poses "doublets' are manufactured,
which even rival the beauty of gen.
uine gems. 'DOuElets," as the name
implies, are made III two pieces The
top half is usually a genuine stone,
generally a white sapphire beautifully
cut and polished. This is joined by
an invisible cement to paste" bottom
or even to another white sapphire,
painted on the side where the joint is
to the stone it is desired to counterfeit
These "douhlets" look as well as. usu-
ally better than, bona fide stones, ex-
cepting those Of the finest quality, and
are to be discovered by only one test.
Take them out of their setting and
cast them into boiling water, when if
they are "dOublets" they will speedily
come asunder A jeweer Will eXper-
fence no difficulty il reuniting them as
before, but it must be remembered that
such stones are to Ill intents and pur-
poses valueless.