The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-19

Paste limitations Which Wear Well
and Cost Considerable Money.

Paste limitations which Wear Well
and Cost Considerable Money.
From the New Orleans Times Democrat.
lone of the finest paste diamond makers
in the world used to have a little shop
over in the Old Quarter " said a Canal
street jewe!er, talking about tricks in the
trade. THE term paste diamond by
the way, is widely misunderstood. Among
the craft it is applied only to very fine
class of limitations, never seen on the
general market, and 1 dlre say you wou d
go from one end of New Orleans to the
other without finding single specimen.
THE so-called art fetal diamoads,' of
the kind usually offered for sale in stores,
are nothing but common glass, made soft
to facilitate cutting. When 1 was learn
ing my trade l worked for a time i'm a
diamond factory, ard am quite familiar
with the process. The g ms are first
pressed into shape in moulds, and when
taken out are as dull and dingy as dish
water. That is remeded by pressing
their faces against an emery wheel,
which sharpens all their angles and
gives them extraordinary briliancy while
they are new and clean A bit of glass
majority of genuine stones, but the
trouble is that their angles soon wear
smooth again, owing to the softness of
the material, and when that happens they
Immediately lose their luster.
There is a general impression that
these cheap limitations are painted or
dyed with some chemical that rubs off
and leaves them dull, and the theory
seems plausible enough in view of the
gorgeous display they make in a show
window and the rapidity with which they
fade. But, as a matter of fact. they owe
their fire entirely to the sharpness Of
their faces and the delicate edge is worn
away in a few days merely by handling
or rubbing against the clothes Some en-
terprising fellow who would buy an en-
DRY wheel and put out sign, Diamonds
Shsrpened While You Wait ought to do
a land-office business.
"As far is I am aware there are no
such things as painted diamonds The
limitations are made in the way describ-
ed, and while some of the dealers claim
to have secret formulas / am sure there
have been no material changes in the pro-
cess since / worked at it myself. We
used to get two cents apiece for the small
Ter stones running from one-half 20 two
and one-half karats in size, and as high
as a dollar for big headlights, generally
used in masquerade and carnival jewelry''
The headquarters of the industry are in
Germany, where they turn out the stuff
literally by the bushel.
But to return to the genuine paste
which sounds a little like an Irish bull, 8"
continued the jeweer, hight grade imi-
tation of that kind is something Of con-
siderable value. good paste diamond
of the two-karat size. for example. will
cost at least SIS. and have known as
much as $500 to be charged for a necklace.
In making artificial gems OF this class. a
very hard flint glass is used, the same
kind employed in the manufacture OF
lenses for telescopes Big Jumps of Il,
fresh from the melting pot ore broken
into small fragments and carefully sorted
over TO secure pieces that are perfectly
clear and free from the slightest flaw.
Moreover. there is a mysterious varfatio
In the retroactive properties of different
'melts.' Some have a much greater facil
ity than others for catching and rejecting
rays Of light. and they Of course. are
preferred.
when tho maker finally gets a piece
of glass that suits him he proceeds 20
shape II against % wheel. almost exactly
as q lapidary would cut "A real diamond.
The chief difference Is that the glass ~
much more easily worked. and a cutting
can be made in a day that would occupy