Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-02
FORTUNES IN pkEcfous GEMS.
Newest Jewels; What They Cost and
How They Are Worn.

| From the London Mall paIs5 of;i s5T
The desire for jewels and the extrava-
gantly splendid displays now made by wom-
en- who delight in such, manifestations of
wealth are two of the main characteristics
! of the power dress exercises over women
| In this luxurious age. &c
A million sovereigns sounds like an In
credibly huge sum Of money to sink In
precious stones. but the gem caskets of
some of our great ladies' represent that
value very closely, and It Is actually touch
ed in few notable instances.
women do not consider their catalogue of
jewels complete without two or three
tiaras, a string of pearls capable of being
measured by the yard, a stOmacher bril-
liantly ablaze with gems, a dog collar and
numerous necklets, rings of various colors
to match various gems, to say nothing of
aigrettes of diamonds, bracelets, brooches
and little ornaments by the hundred.
One single necklet of pearls-only string
that closely clasps the throat-has been
known to cost 100000: tiara swallows up
any sum up to f25.OOO, and even more when
1t contains practically priceless stones; one
brooch may easily represent f500, while "a
stomacher can scarcely cost less. Hence to
be bedizened in gems that represent f1O0, 600
is not difficult task for the woman who
likes a barbaric display and can AFFORD to
indulge her whifn.
The extravaganza this craving for gems
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 1t fosters their
trade. A very quaint fashion from old
times is the agrafe of brilliants, an orna-
ment resembling a bow and bands Of dia-
monds, duplicated many times so as to trim
dress from the decoletage to the hem Of
the skirt. The ornaments graduate in size,
so that at the foot of the dress they are
much larger than they are at the waist,
elegant effect.
These necessarily are rarely to be seen in
real stones, but sets of them are being
as brilliant an effect as real diamonds and
can scarcely be detected from them by the
eyes of even experts.
Ornaments of this cafiber are found upon
quaint old-world dresses, made with the
corsage a Pointe. and the full simple skirt
of bygone times. One ordered the other day
for a woman whose vogue is the picturesque
was made of cloud gray satin and was quite
untrimmed, save for the agrafeS and a
berthe and elbow founceS of rich old lace.
Juliet nets of diamonds and pearls are so
much more beautiful than those of colored
stones 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 lat
tice crosses with roSettes of diamonds and
all around the edge festooned with gilt
tering fringe of the same precious stones.
Very lovely aigrettes, composed of pair
of diamond leaves, the edges of which meet
be worn with the Marie Stuart couture,
which dips in the center of the brow and
causes a semi ornament of
this kind to look unusually charming The
jewelers. have been very busy lately in
venting new ornaments or fresh ways of
wearing old ones. How to make use of very
long ropes of pearls, since it became less
fashionable than 1t was few years ago to
wind them round and around the throat,
has been problem to the wealthy possess
or of such baubles that has at last been
answered. A string of pearls twisted twice
around the throat and then Topped in front
on the low corsage, with fastenings here
and there composed of jeweled brooches is,
comparatively speaking, an old tale. The
latest adaptat ton of this idea is to festoon
the jewels at the back of the corsage as
well as in the front, and If the strings are
and there composed of jeweled brooches, is,
the utmost magnificence. In some cases a
complete berthe of splendid gems is pro-
vided by means of one long necklace of
gems, or two or three worn at the same
time ~ u