Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1905-11-30
TESTS FOR DIAMONDS
SIMPLE METHODS By WHICH ONE
MAY DETECT INVITATIONS.

Its Rcsl stance to HydrOHuOric AciM
and other of Its Peculiar Proper
tics-Coloreh DinmoMGs.
If you doubt the genuineness of yoIr
diamonds OF stones which you conteM-
plate purchasing, it is not necessary 10
submit them to an expert. Ey study
Ing the following methods of trstin,
these gems. says the Columbus Press
Post, YOU may become your own cx-
pert.
For the first lesson take rcll diu-
monu and an imitation Drop them III
gl:i;,se., OF water. The imitation will
bicad With the water and become al
most Invisible. While the real o..c Will
lie distinctly visible, shining out white
ly through tho liu,lid. dry and clean
Tie two stones, and on the fat side of
caci' put t.ms drop of walcr cil Tie
real the drop viii! hold its 4!ol,ul. :
form untl can bc led about with IL III.
point. Tho drop on Tie glass one viii.
spread.
StGdN the two stones With IL magnify
in:, glass. The facets OF the false one
are even and regular. On the Other
they are of varying sizes The reason
for THIS Is that Il diamond cutter With
II good gem will sacrifice symmetry to
weight, prctrrr.ng To leave some slight
Irregularities in Tie planes and edges
than to reduce the stones value The
material in II false stone being of little
value. the cutter makes as finished y.
Job as lie can of it, the appearance
counting for more than the stone It,
self
Ii a real diamond be used as IL nlnlu
ture reading glass. aided by Il large
magnifying glass Il tiny dot ON paper
appears clear and clean. Substitute
the false stone and several points or
one badly broken one will be seen ow-
Ing to unequal refraction.
Then you can try the familiar expert
ment of scratching II sheet of glass
Because your stone will scratch does,
not prove its genuincncss, however.
Try to break the glass evenly on the
scratch. No other stone can cut through
the outer skin OF II sheet OF glass AMI
give certainty to un 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 made
Having scratched your pretty bit Of
glass till 1t is worthless, drop 1t and
the diamond into hydrofluoric acid. Be
fore long the glass will be dissolved,
but the diamond will not suffer ut all.
Then there Is still another expert
ment. Take a bit of stun with red and
white markings, pass the stone to be
tested over it and closely observe the
result IL the stone be an imitation
the colors will be distingulshable
through 1T; II 1t be diamond no diff
ference of color will be appreciable.
a genuine diamond rubbed upon
wool or metal, after having been pre-
viously subjected to the rays of the
electric arc, becomes phosphorescent
IN the dark. This cannot be said of
any of the limitations. IL the stone
to be tried he covered with borax paste
and after being well heated in the al
colol flame dropped into glass OF
water the proof will he instantaneous.
The glass imitation will fly into bits.
while the genuine stone will not be az
fectcd. Finally, try to crush between
two hard plates diamond and an i'm
ltation and learn the difference.
After tic diamond the sapphire is the
hardest stone. With her more beaut-
FIJI sister she possesses also the quality
OF resisting the attacks Of the file. but
she is, however. cloudy in appearance
and Of II milky hue The topaz is
slightly yellowisll and surrenders to the
cutting teeth of the file. There are u
great number of white diamonds, but
Il pure, clear transparent stone without
Il shade of color is more rare than is
often supposed.
Besides white diamonds there are
some which exhibit the shades of red,
blue. green. yellow brown black and
pink. Heat sometimes causes IL diu-
monu to change its color, nnd after II
time the color thus acquired becomes
permanent Yellow diamonds, or those
commonly dcno;ninntcd "off color"
furnish tie grc::teat variety of shades
and some of them exceed in beauty all
other stone; of that color
Specimens Of cai.,,y colored dia-
monds are by no nc rs rare. They
may almost be said to be common. A
pink or rose colored diamond is Of
great value, and the red diamond, sur
passing the ruby in its magnificent col
oring, is considered the most beautiful
Of all the precious stones, being ex-
ceedingly rare. The one bought by
Paul, car OF Russia, weighed ten
carats aud cost him two and one-hnlf
million francs. A perfectly black dia
lnond Is almost as rare as u red one
For beauty the blue stones come d.
rectly after 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 80
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 brittany the finest emerald
In place OF the Brazilian diamond,
which of late years has become quite
scarce, Cape diamonds Of much in
ferior value and brilliancy are often
sold To he able TO distIu-uish hetMcen