The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-27
ExTRAvAeANcE OF GEMS.
Never So Great As Now Among Eng
 gIish Women of Fashion.

| From the London Mall.
 The desire for jewels and the extrava-
 gantly splendid displays now made by
 women who delight in such manifesta- 1 tions of wealth are two of the main char acterstics of the power dress exercises I over women in this lxurious age. A mill
 lion sovereigns sounds like an incredibly
 huge some of money to sink in precious | stones, but the gem caslkets of some of
 our great ladies represent that value very l closely, and 1t is actually touched in l few notable instances.
 l Quite moderately wealthy young mar | ried women do not consider their catalog 1 of jewels complete without two or three 1 tiaras string of pearls capable of be- 1 ing measured by the yard schumacher | brilliantly ablaze with gems a dog collar and numerous necklets. rings of various l colors to match various gems, to say nothing of aigrets of diamonds, bracelets. brooches and little ornaments by the hum l dred. | One single necklet of pearls-only a string that closely clasps the throat-has | been known to cost e90,000; tiara swal- 1 lows up any sum up to f25,000 and even
 more when 1t contains practically price, 1 less stones ones brooch may easily rep-
 resent &5OO. while a stomaeher can scarce | ly cost less. Hence to be bedzened in l gems that represent f100000 Is not
 difficult task for the woman who likes 1 a barbaric display and can afford to in- 1 dulge her whim.
 The extravaganza this craving for gems l leads to is excused by some people on the
 score that precious stones are a sound in- | vestment, while the dealers In imitation | gems truthfully aver that Ii fosters their | trade. very quaint fashion from old times is the agrafe of brilliants, an orna- ment resembling bow and bands Of dia- | monds, duplicated many times so as to | ttfp 10
 hem of the skirt. The ornaments gradu- ate in size, so that at the foot of the
 dress they are much larger than they
 are at the waist, thereby producing a very | elegant effect. These necessarily are rare-
 iy to be seen in real stones, but sets of
 them are being sought in old F'rencn 1 paste which produces as briiilant an ef-
 feet as real diamonds and can scarcely be detected from them by the eyes of even 1 experts.
 Ornaments of this ealiber are found up- on quaint old world dresses. made with the corsage of pointe. and the full, sim . uie skirt of bygone times. One ordered
 inc other day for a woman whose vogue
 l ia inc picturesque, was made of cloud
 gray satin and was quite untrimmed. save
 for the agrafes and a bertha and elbow
 Hounces of rich old lace. Juliet nets of
 diamonds and pears are so much more
 beautiful than those of colored stones l that they are likely to last longer than | the rest of their kind in the favor of the | wealthy woman. A new net Is made of gold lattice work. fastened where the l lattice crosses with rosets of diamonds | and all around the edge festooned with
 a gllttering fringe of the same precious 1 stones.
 1 Very lovely algrets. composed of pair | of diamond leaves, the edges of which l meet in the center, are being made pur- 1 loosely to be worn with the Marie Stuart 1 coffure which dips in the center of the | brow and causes @ semi-conyentional or | nament of this kind to look unusually charming. The jewellers have been very l busy lately inventing new ornaments or | fresh ways of wearing old ones. How to | make use of very long ropes of pearls l since 1t became less fashionable than 1t | was a few years ago to wind them round and round the throat. has been a problem to the wealthy possessor of such l baubles that has at last been answered. l A string of pearls twisted twice around | the throat and then looped in front on the | low corsage. with fastenings here and l there composed of jewe1ed brooches Is. l comparatively speaking old tale. The | latest adaptation of this Idea Is to fes- l toon the jewels at the back of the cor I sage as well as in the front. and If the ! strings are here and there composed of | jeweled brooches, 1t Is the utmost magni- | fcence. In some cases a complete bertha of splendid gems is provided by means of one long necklace of gems, or two or three worn at the same time.