Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1905-06-29
TESTS FOR DIAMONDS
SIMPLE METHODS BY WHICH ONE
MAY DETECT MUTATIONS.

The Hardness Of the Genuine stone,
Its Resistance Ia My,lronuoric Acid
and Other of It's Peculiar Proper
ties-COlOred Diamonds.
II you doubt the genuineness of your
diamonds or stones which YOU contcm-
plate purchasing it is not necessary to
submit them to an expert by study
ing the following methods of testing
Post, you may become your own OK
pert.
For the first lesson take II real dia-
nlond and an imitation drop them in
glasses of water. The imitation will
blend with the water and become al
most invisible. Willie the real one will
he distinctly visible, shining out white
~ through the liquid. lpry md clean
the two stones. and on the HAT side uf
each put tiny drop vi water. On the
real the drop will hold its globular
form and Gun be led about with a pin
point. The drop on the glass one will
spread.
Study the tmio stones with Il ll4... Nifty
Ing glass. lie facets vi the false one
are even and regular. On the other
they are Of varying sizes. The reason
for this Is that Diamond cutter with
Al good gem VIII sacrifice symmetry to
weight, prefer ring to leave some slight
Irregularities in the plan. es and edges
than to reduce the stones value The
material in II false stone being OF little
value. the cutter makes as finished a
Job as he can OF It, tie appearance
counting for more than the stone it.
self.
II n real diamond he used as II minu-
turc reading glass. aided by large
magnifNing glass. II tiny dot OH paper
appears clear and clean Substitute
tho false stone. and scN eral points or
one badly broken one Will be seen ow-
ing to unequal iefraction.
Then you can try the familiar expert
ment of scratching II sheet Of glass.
Because your stone will scratch does
not prove its genuineness, however
Try to break the glass evenly Oh the
scratch. No other stone can cut through
the outer skin Of II sheet of glass an
give certainty to an even fracture like
a diamond.
Your true diamond is proof against
the hardest file. but the instrument will
easily scratch any imitation that has
ever been nude.
Having scratched your pretty bit Of
glass till 1t is worthless, drop 1t and
the diamond into hydronuoric ucid. Be
fore long the glass will be dissolved,
but the diamond will not suffer at all.
Then there IL still another expert
mcnt Take ii bit of stuff with red and
white markings, pass the stone to be
tested over il and closely observe the
result. III the stone he nm imitation
the colors will he dislinYuishable
through 1t; II 1t be u diamond no diff
ference OF color will he apprcciablc.
A genuine diamond rubbed upon
wood or metal. after having been pre-
vio,lsly subjected to the rays Of the
electric are. becomes pllospllorescent
IN the dark. This cannot be said of
any Of the limitations. III the stone
to be tried be covered with boraX paste
and after being we'll heated In the al
cohol flame dropped into II glass of
Tie gl,,ss imitation will fly into bits.
while the genuine stone Will not be af-
fccted Finally. try to crush between
two hard plates a diamond and un i'm
itutiun and learn the difference
After the diamond the sapphire is the
hardest stone With her more beuuti-
full sister she possesses also the quality
OF resisting the attacks Of the file. but
she is, however. cloudy III appearance
and VI milky hue. The topMz Is
slightly ycllowish and surrcntlcrs to the
cutting teeth Of the file. There are ii
great number Of white diamonds, but
II pure, clear, transparent stone without
often supposed.
Besides white diamonds there are
some which exhibit the shades of rcd.
blue. green. yellow. brown. black and
pink. Heat sometimes causes dia-
mond to change its color and after
time the color thus acquired becomes
permanent yellow diamonds, or those
commonly dcnominnted "off color"
furnish the greatest variety Of shades
and some of them exceed in beauty all
other stones OF that color.
Specimens OF canary colOred dia-
mollds are by no means rare. They
may almost he said to be common. A
nil, "a
great value. and the red diamond, sur
passing the ruby III its magnificent col
Oring, IL considered the most beautiful
of all the precious stones. being eX-
ceedingly rare. The one bought by
Paul. ear Of RUSSIA. weighed ten
carats and cost him two and one half
million francs. \ perfectly black dia-
mond is almost MS rare as rcd one.
For beauty the blue STONES come d.
rectly nfter the red diamonds. Those
possessing the deep blue, and in this
respect resembling the sapphire. are in
deed most beautiful gems. differing
from the sapphire only In quality and
by the magnificent fiery colors peculiar
to the diamond. The only true blue
diamonds come from the mines In In
dia. The varieties OF green are not SO
rare as the blues. reds, blacks and
pinks. but those Of grass green hue like
the beautiful emerald are seldom found.
Where they do exist. however they sur
pass IN brillaIy.y the finest emerald.
In place OF the Brazilian diamond,
which OF late years has become quite
scarce. Cape diamonds Of much in
ferfor value and brilliancy are often