Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-22
SOME CURIOUS GEMS
JEWELRY OF WHICH THE PUBLIC
KNOWS LITTLE.
Bone Turquoises, Lazulites and Others
Great Value Of Some
Rare Stones.

SSSAS, SAoEdClcI, Qudlfty anu ueSlSn VI jews
elry, precious stones, silverware, etc..
changes so sudden and radical as in many
cases to almost paralyze certain branches
OF the jewelers. industry. have had one
good effect in that they have awakened
considerable public interest in such mat
tiers and taught people certain things re-
specting gems and jewelry which they had
never known before. The subject of gems,
the trade in precious stones, the change OF
fashions. ETC., are replete with curlosities OF
a character unknown to the outside world.
This does not include the hackneyed sub
ject of diamond cutting, mining, etc. The
curiosities of precious stones are far more
interesting than how they are prepared or
mined.
In the big gem collection at the National
Museum there are some fine turquoises.
One of the little heaps Of these blue stones
Is labeled Bone turquoise, southern
France" In appearance these bone tur-
quoises seem in no way to differ from the
genuine turquoises Of New Mexico ana
Persia. They are Of the same sky blue or
peacock green color as the rest, and those
who gaze in the cases wonder at times
what constitutes the difference between a
bone turquoise and the regular gem OF
that name. Careful inspection, however.
will reveal the fact that the former have
not the same waxy luster as the real tut
quoise. the surface Of bone turquoise having
from that Of the real gem.
Bone Turquoises:
Ages ago, during the Miocene period OF
geological time, what Is now the depart
ment of Gers, in southern France was
sort of big. marshy pasture on which heros
of mastodons and dnotheriums, 10 Say
nothing of other gigantic and extinct pachy-
derms and bovines, grazed at thelr own
tho In h11fF
prairies before the coming OF the White
man. Man had not made his appearance On
EARTH and when a mastodon or oinotheftuu,
grew tired Of life he simply iald GOWN auu
died in comparative peace and quiet win
nothing to poster him except the big hyehas
and yultures There were no ivory hunters
in those days, and after the nyenas anu
vultures got through with the carcass, .ne
big tusks and teeth of the dead monster
sank into the marshy earth to remain tnefe
for ages Time passed: the mastodon ana
the dinotherium disappeared the maIsny
pasture was elevated high above sea iese.
by seismic action; and in course OF lme
was covered over by the accumulat1ons OF
succeeding ages. The earth In which the
bones, teeth and tusks of these prehistoric
pachyderms sank to their hnal rest, oeea a ;r
other spots by copper salts, SO tnat WINS
the teeth tusks and bones OF these peasls
became fossilized they were at the sans
time changed from their orls.na. -, VIM the
action of the phosphate OF iron ana cop
per salts in the soil. .
last of all came the age of man. Along
toward the close Of the middle ages ..e
the "bIue EARTH" under the top layers VI
later ages, finding the blue and green rag,
menfs of mastodon teeth ana tusks any
bones. These they have mined ana sous s ~
after ever since and are today, more par
ticularly in France and Europe CUT poi-
ished and worn as gems. MI,
R11t they are not the true turquoise. Inc
latter is a mineral compositlon, "hich ~
capttal letters and tiny figures resembling
a sum In algebra. whereas the pohe ture
nuoise is simply the fossiliZed remnant ~
teeth. bones or tusks of extinct elepIales
and tapirs Yet in the daylight 1t is almost
impossible to tell the difference between the
true Or mineral turquoise ana .he nonH 'u ~
auoise. BY gas or elecufie,.y, eI hacon,es
at once apparent, the bone turquoise APP
pearing gray and greasy. While the mn y,
eral gem retains its Sky-blue color IN al
chemicals, the bone turquoise emits as
agreeable animal odor, while the true tur
ouoise remains odorless. Sucn ls the pohe
TURQUOISE the mining of which constitutes
an important industry In southern france.
Lazulite.
The National Museum gem collection con-
tains an imitation turquoise. which Is noth-
ing more than a piece of ordinary chalce-
dony. cut en- cabochon and artifctally COL
ored a sky blue tint by process known 10
the agate cutters Of Oberstein, Germany.
In addition to this and bone turquoise there
are however, other stones, natural as Wen
as artificial. closely resembling the true
turquoise the most remarkable OF which Is
lazulite. Lazulite is OF almost the same
mineral composition as the turquoise. but.
unlike the latter, has a vitreous, CLASSY
sheen when polished, rather than the waxy
luster of the true turquoise 1t Is founo
near Salzburg, Germany, In Brazil and IN
Lincoln county, Ga. This. however, is one
Of the cheats in which the customer has
decided advantage. Lazulite Is really
finer stone than turquoise. the color being
of much deeper sky blue than that of the
latter The Brazilian stones which are par
ticularly fine, frequently occur In large and
massive fragments. go
Nost every one is more or less familiar
with the subject of famous diamonds, but
when 1t comes to other stones very little Is
nown concerning the ownership ana "nefc-
abouts of the finer specimens Rubies rank
next after diamonds. following which are
the sapphires, emeralds, aquamarines,
beryls, garnets, turquoise and amethysts
Streeter the London jeweler, 1t Is said
owns a ruby weighing 81 b-16 carats, valued
at f1OOoO or $4,000. while Tiffany Co. OF
New York have, or had some years ago. a
fne color, which they valued at eS3 GOO.
The finest ruby In existence. he states. Is
probably the tabular stone OF fine color
and weighing 1862 2-3 carats In the possess
sion of the British Museum.
The Duke Of Devonshire. Sir William Cav
endish one of the richest men in England
owns a sapphire Of 100 carats weight. and
also the finest emerald in the world. The
latter, which is of a fine green color and
fawless, weighs 1850 carats, and Is from
the Muzo mine, the famous emerald pro-
Queer, in Bolivia. The stone Is uncut The
emerald in the possession of the Gar of
Russia ranks second in point of value,
having been found in the Ural mountains,
the great gold, platinum and gem producing
district Of Russia. The most valuable
auuamarine of an asparagus green color
is in the Imperial Institute of Mines in st.
Petersburg. being worth $4,000 roubles or
1884, coo. The largest and most beautiful
turquoises known to exist are the property
of the Shah of Persia, while the National
Museum in Washington undoubtedly owns
49, tno tn