El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-05-11

OF the earth. But whereas in half a
buShel Of sapphires at the mines there
may be only two or three valuable ones
lthe rest being so flaWed or OH Color
as TO be worthless by the synthetic"
process here described it IS possible to
make fine ones every time And one
should understand that sapphides in
certain shades Of blue are much more
valuable than diamonds
The transparency and other optical
properties of the synthetic sapphires
are exactly the same as those OF the
natural when cut for gems Ihelr
weight is the same. and likewise their
hardness-represent by 9, as COM
pared with 10 for the diamond. which
is the hardest Of known substances.
The only difference Is in the bubbles
Ninety-One out OF every 100 natural
sapphires contain minute bubbles and
so also DO most OF the artificial ones
But in the former case the bubbles dds
tingulShable only by hlgh-pOWer MI
scrOscOpe) are angular in form, while
in the synthetic sapphires they are
bubble shaped.
1t should be realized how totally diff
ferent is the process here concerned
from that which has been utilized with
in the last few years for making what
are called reconstructed rubies-' That
was a matter OF taking, say, half tea
spoonful Of real ruby sparks which
are cheap enough because too small to
be useful gems. and fusing them to
Eether with high heat, to produce one
big ruby In the case Of the synthetic
sapphires. on the other hand, the or
iginal chemical compounds employed
by nature are so combined as actually
TO create the gem stones
May Also Make Rubies.
So far the discussion has been merely
Of sapphires. But there IS every reason
to expect that rubies Oriental emeralds.
stones will be produced by the same OF
similar means The only difference be
tween n blue sapphire and a ruby is
that the former is cOlOred with oxide
Of titanium. while the latter owes its
rudy hue to hrOmium-another rare
metal
The aluminium oxide used for making
sapphires is the purest Obtainable and
COlOrleSs- If il were employed by it
self and unmixed with other ingredients
the Dear-shaped glObule formed beneath
the flame Of the blOwpipe would be
without color and transparent II
would be, in other words, what is
known as a white" sapphire With
the addition of q little chromium il
would be a ruby
Aluminium oxide is more famiiiarly
known as "corundUm-' 1t is plentifully
found in the rocks Of Massachusetts
and Of North Carolina, and, being sep
arated out by simple mechanical pro-
cesses, Is very cheap Sometimes II IS
white or gray, and again blue or green.
But when. in rare instances. 1t assumes
q crystalline form and happens to be
transparent. 1t is gem stuff If color
less, the gem stuff is white sapphire;
If blue, IL is blue sapphire; If green, it
Is Oriental emerald; If yellow, 1t is
Oriental topaz; if red, it is ruby
Thus it viii be seen that all Of these
precious stones are in reality the same
material, modified by very. small guam
titles OF different cOlOring matters,
which from the chemists viewpoint are
impurities. COrundum is cheap by the
pound. but IT becomes the most precious
and valuable of all known things when
found in transparent red crystals. Ru-
bies are worth far more per carat than
the finest white diamonds A perfect
one OF the size OF a marTOWfat pea and
Of 'pigeOn-blOOd" hue, will fetch $4,000
whereas a diamond Of like size and pur-
est water brings only $1,000 at present
market rates.
Nature has produced her gem stones