The Washington herald., 1912-05-12
Poor Folks to Wear Gems;
New Process of Manufacture
Precious Stones Soon to Be Made on Large Com
mercial Scale

New York. May n.-Naturally. there d
good deal Of rivalry among the verS
rich IN regard to their possessions In tbs
way Of Jewels. It is nothing extraordi'
nary for a New York woman TO appeal
in a box at the opera with 100000 OF
$4,000 worth OF rubies. emeralds. and
diamonds on her person, the effect Of the
adornment (Which may comprise a tiara
necklaces. and a ''plastron'' covering ths
whole front OF the waist) being such as &c
give to the wearer the appearance Of
scintillating IN a costume composed en-
tirely OF precious stones.
Such a display may be fairly considered
to represent the very acme OF modern
luxury. And yet the time seems likely
10 arrive before long when any woman
OF moderate means can afford. II she 90
desires. to wear as many and as beauti-
full Jewels For there Is no denying the
fact that the chemists are succeeding IN
their efforts to produce gems Of the
highest quality and perfection in the
laboratory-the stones in question being
real ones. inasmuch as they are OF ex-
actly the same materials as nature her
self uses.
Just patented in this country by a
Frenchman. August Verneull-has proved
so successful that the Jeweiry trade on
both sides Of the water IS considerably
alarmed. Indeed. anybody who should
try TO sell q few real sapphires at the
present time would Inevitably ind that
the gems were regarded with suspicion
even by experts. so perfectly do the
artificial ones. now beginning TO come on
the market. reproduce all the physical
and other properties Of natural sapphires.
Up TO now 1t has been deemed impos-
sible to produce sapphires by artifice.
But the solution OF the problem has
proved TO be simple enough, and the ma
terials employed are Of the cheapest, be-
ing sS per cent aluminium oxide, IL per
cent iron oxide. and Il per cent titanium
oxide All three OF these substances are
found together in certain clays.
As described in the verneuil patent. the
process consists in reducing the above
mention ingredients to a fine powder and
allowing the mixture to fall through the
fame OF an oxy-hydrogen blowpIpe upon
a bed Of fire clay where it is fused. Such
a blowpipe is a forked tube. through one
branch OF which comes a stream OF
oxygen gas. while the other brings a
stream Of hydrogen. As the two unite.
the combination Of gases is ignited, CIV
ing a flame with an intense heat.
The blowpipe is fixed vertically, so that
the flame is directed downward. At the
start. oxygen Is supplied only in small
quantity. so that the fire IS not extremely
hot. slender trickle Of the powdered
mixture, falling from a receptacle above,
Is baked, or friZzled, as one might say,
and forms a little cone AS the cone
rises. the supply Of oxygen is gradually
Increased. raising the temperature Of the
fame to 3.450 degrees Fahrenheit, and the
powder. continuing to fall. Is melted and
crystalized, assuming the shape of a bulb
of gradually increasing size.
The flame being at length shut on. the
new-made stone is allowed to cool 1t
IS pear-shaped. and may be Of any hue
Is 10 say, from white to
pink, or OF any shade OF blue. The tita-
MUM oxide. which gives the much-ad-
mired blue tint. Is likewise the coIoring
agent in natural sapphires- In fact, the
artificial gems are. in their composition.
exactly like those dug out OF the earth.
But, whereas IN half a bushel OF sap
phires at the mines there may be only
two or three valuable ones Cthe rest being
so 'fiawed or off-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
sapphfres 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 tor gems. Their weight is the
same. snG likewise their hardness-repre-
sented by .. as compared with 10 for the
diamond. which is the hardest Of known
The only difference Is In the
bubbles. Ninety-nine out Of every loo
natural sapphires contain minute bub-
bles and so also do most Of the artificial
ones. But in the former case the bub-
bles (distlnguishable only by a high
power microscopy are angular in form.
while in the synthetic sapphires they are
II should be realized how totally dif-
ferent is the process here concerned
from that which has been utilized within
the last few years for making what arc
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 in gems, and fusinK them to-
gether with high heat. to produce one
big ruby. In the case OF the synthetic
sapphires. on the other hand, the original
chemical compounds employed by nature
are so combined as actually to create
the gem stones.
So far the discussion has been merely
Of sapphires. But there is every reason
to expect that rubies, Oriental emeralds,
and certain other kinds Of precious
stones will be produced by the same or
similar means The only difference oe-
tween a blue sapphire and ruby Is that
the former is colored with oxide Of
hue to chromium-another rare metal.
sapphires Is the purest obtainabIe and
II II were employed by itself
and unmixed with other ingredients. the
pear-shaped giobule formed beneath the
flame OF the blowpipe would be without
color and transparent. 1t would be, in
other words, what is known as a white"
sapphire. With the addition Of a little
chromium It would be a ruby.
Aluminium oxide is more Familiarity
known as ''corundum." 1t is plentifuIly
found in the rocks OF Massachusetts, and
OF North Carolina, and. being separated
out by simple mechanical processes, IS
very cheap. Sometimes It is white or
gray, and again blue or green. But when,
In rare instances. It assumes a crystal
line form and happens to be transparent,
1t is gem stun. II colorless. the gem
stun Is white sapphire; II blue, It is blue
sapphire; II green. II is Oriental emerald;
4 yellow 1t is Oriental topaz; II red,