Evening star., 1901-05-11

| they had been pledged for 20. 600 900 francs
/ or St-o0o,0oa Now these crown jewels are
not the property of the royal family OF
| Portugal. but belong to the nation, and the
| king committed a kingly indelicacy in
pawning them. When the news began to
! ooze out Charles Ferdinand did some hard
| husthng to make it good. AS the Paris Gil
Bias tells il. il was to avoid this scandal
| by obtaining from the British government
gift of the necessary 20.e00.opp francs.
that he consented to the Anglo Portuguese
alliance. in which he abdicates all dignity
and independence. The jewels are well
worth taking out Of pawn. the Gil Bias
says. because the crown alone. which is the
most precious in Europe. is valued at 3d.
ooo.oo francs. What 1t does not state is
the historic fact that the Braganza dia-
mond. the crowns great jewel. is not dia-
mond at all. but magnificent white topaz
The conduct of the Portuguese govern
| ment has corroborated this accusation con-
sistently ever since the year 1850. when
David Jeffries. the English expert, first
| made it; The Braganza was found in la
In Brazil. Its weight is $50 carats, while
that of the Kohinoor is only 1S6 carats. AS
| it is said to be without flaw and beauti-
fully symmetrical. its value as a diamond
may be imagined. Since 1850 the Portu-
guese kings and governments have refused
| to suffer the great stone to be examined.
| 1t keeps its high place in the list OF the
foremost diamonds of the world, but there
is not an authority on these great stones
who will not close his eye knowingly when
the BraganZa is mentioned.
How to Buy.
The American sporting man remained
two hours that afternoon, little tweezers
In hand. turning the stones about knowing
1y. examining them through a magnfying
glass
What i make save by buying
from you?' L asked my young man
why. you first the retailers en-
tire profit" he replied with animation.
And, secondly, You make whatever differ
ence you can bargain between the price you
pay and the proper wholesale price one
OF us would like to get in selling the stone
to a Paris retailer. But" he added. eau
tiousy. you must take care not to let |
any retailer know from which one of us
you are buying. The retailers would black |
list us lie shook his head ominously.
And YOU would best be acquainted pretty |
well with the qualities and values of |
stones" he added in a burst of impulsve |
confidence. Il am on velvet, anyway" he |
exclaimed. Every cent l have in the |
world is in snowy, one-carat and two-carat |
stones, bought month ago. l could sell |
them in the club today at Is per cent profit. |
| got them at such bargain. I'm going |
to hold on to them. Perhaps I shall take |
them to New York. You will see in any |
case. that within fortyfive days all kinds |
of diamonds will have risen 30 per cent and |
even more"
From Authority.
To get something authoritative. L called |
on Mr.. Greene Of one of the biggest jewelry |
houses in the world.
There is little to say in answer to your
inquiry except that there is a decided and
continuous rise in prices" he began. This !
is nothing new; South African conditions
have aided it. but the rise which has been
going on for the last three years is inde-
pendent of these. During this time dia-
monds have advanced in value from 90 TO
30 per cent, the advance being greater i'm |
small goods than in the larger sizes. but
the fact is that the consumption exceeds
the production, this being a much more
powerful factor than the temporary shut
ting down of the mines.
Several advances had been made before
the war began: the war acCentuated the
rise. the legitimate reason of which as |
said before. being the increased consump-
ton. the diminished production and the
general increase Of wealth and habits of |
luxury. Not only have diamonds risen
but all other precious stones and pearls
The rise in the price Of the latter has been
greater in proportion than in diamonds
America has for many years been an i'm
pOrtant diamond buying country. OF late
it has turned its attention to pearls-anl |
this at the moment when the supply was
falling off"
What is the price of a one-carat 6ia- |
mond today" l asked.
NO one can quote you offhand the price
of one-carat diamond said Mr. Greene |
1T depends upon the individual stone. You
can buy one-carat stone of a poor ordi- |
nary quality for from so to S6O. A better |
quality be had for S1e0 or S12O And |
still better for a still higher price Here
is a stone that weighs considera bly, less
than one carat and is worth 81 600 OF
course. you see the point
L saw also that 1t unique orange
colored, fancy stone, with a remarkable |
natural band of watery green splashed
straight across it-a freak of nature.
Pretty Stable Value.
That in spite of temporary fluctuations |
the diamond has pretty stable value may |
be seen by a glance at some prices of the
past. The celebrated Harry Emanuel. F.
r. G. s.. in his book on precious stones. |
published at London In 1867 gives a table
showing the value of brilliants up to five
carats. The prices are those of perfectly |
white and pure brilliants, free from defects |
or flaws" he takes care to explain. bril-
liant cut diamond weighing half a carat |
was worth in 1867 $50; one weighing three |
Quarters Of a carat SO; while the one
carat stone he put at f21, s10J Now,
going back nearly three hundred wears |
look at the Value of Diamonds in the |
Year 1906. as Sold in Venice by the Dia-
mond Merchant, Giovanni Ricardo and |
Copied from Hebrew Book by Porta- |
leone" In this work the ducat Of liri 4
denari is computed at shillings pence a
ducat, according to the comparative value |
money tables Of modern authorities Well |
the one-carat stone sold in Venice in 1905
for p pounds Ii shilings. or about sl0s |
In 1880. a little after the discovery of the |
Brazilian fields. David Jeffries, the London
authority, put the value of the perfect one
carat stone as low $40.
In 1871 diamonds had fallen still further |
for the commission Of French jewelers. ap-
pointed by the national convention to
value the crown jewels fixed the price of
diamonds of one carat (Which We may in
fer were of fine quality) at the equivalent
of $50. Before this time the importation of |
diamonds from Bahai, however, had low
cred the value still more; but a counter
movement already was going on because of
the uncertainty of property in those times
Of trouble. After the fall of Napoleon and
the peace that ensued the price steadily
rose until 1S4S, when on the outbreak OF
the revolution in France of that date, the
value of the one-carat stone fell to se5 in
consequence of large quantities suddenly
being thrown on the market. The market |
quickly recovered, however, and the price |
rose 10 per cent year for more than fif-