The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-11-30
1t Has Advanced in Past Few
Months.
Diamonds Still Climb Steadily
in Value.
JEWELERS. GIVE INTERVIEWS
Interesting Opinions on Rea-
sons for Advance.
China, Deep Mining and Deep
Cutting Are to Blame.

Anyone wishing to give silver Christ
mas presents should buy them as soor
] as possible. The price of silver varies
I as the rise and fall of the sea- Al
present. it is higher than it has been
for at least ten years. Local dealers
backed by national statistics, predict
another rise in price, possibly before the
| holiday season. Also, buy your dia-
monds at once; that's the jewelers. ad-
vice to young America. Diamonds were
never as high as they are now, but will
never again be as low as they are at
} present
Local jewelers. give conflicting reasons
for this soaring in the price of silver
and stones. 1t is unanimously admitted
that the demand is greater than the
supply. The price of bullion, which
continually fluctuates, is at present very
great. The diamond question is APP
parently more serious. The Brazilian
mines were what is commonly called a
fake" and several of the mines in
South Africa are exhausted: it is also
a fact that the deeper the diamond,
the poorer the stone.
Perfect diamonds" affirmed A l..
Thomas, of the Santa F'e Watch COM
pany, will, in time, become a thing of
the past. In the not very distant flu
ture they will belong exclusively to the
so-called 'bloated bondholders' 1 am
expecting the price to advance % per
cent at the beginning of the new year
In the last ten years, by the way, it
has actually doubled. A stone that sold
for $500 in 1902 is. 81, 900 today. This is
due, in my mind, to the cost of mining;
the deeper they cut, the more expensive
it grows. Our importers have increased
the cost on an inferior grade of goods
We buy all our stones from Amsterdam
The entire output of the world, one
might say, comes from Holland, and
that is one reason the prices are so
thoroughly controlled"
Mr.. Thomas declared that the i'm
portance in the rise of silver was not
to be compared to the rise in diamonds.
Silver Has Advanced is Per Cent.
''Silver has gone up about 10 per cent
in the last few months" declared Sam
Friedburg. China is using vast
amounts for coinage; that is the reason
for the advance. But think the price
will come down again.
Mr.. Friedburg was not so hopeful
concerning the excessive charge for
diamonds. That has climbed up, and
climbed up to stay.
"Since 49, he said, gloomily, 81 have
sold about $150,000 worth of diamonds
in Topeka, and I would venture to say
that those diamonds would bring in the
market close to $250,0O0- today, The de-
mand in Russia and Japan is enorm-
GUS; more diamonds are sold in Russia
than are sold in the United States
c. A. Wolf, on the other hand, declare
that more diamonds are sold in the Unit eG
States than all the other countries put to-
gether. Mr.. Wolf ascribed the higher
price to the fact that each year more ard
Formerly they lost 40 per cent said
he, now only 80 per cent is saved. This
waste is due to the fact that dealers de-
mand luster rather than size. 1t is the
sparkling, crystal-pure stone that is most
wanted and hardest to get; solitaire
found in 1905 and weighing 1924 caratS was
b-oken into II stones.
A Wonderful Diamond.
Three carats," broke off Mr.. Wolf, is
the usual weight of a stone Recently one
was found in the Premier mine, South
Africa, Weighing 1,649 carats; that's as
large as your closed fist. It's purity hasn't
been ascertained, but If it's a perfect
stone, it's the most wonderful ind OF the
century,
Mr. wolf ascribed the rise in diamonds
simply to the advance in bullion which
There were, however, two reductions
early in the year. Old silver, which was
formerly As cents, is now s. cents. Bullion
is worth 63 cents an ounce.
w. J. Lewis said he should not be at all
surprised If the price of silver scared
again before the Christmas holidays.
1.-The price of bullion he observed, has
been remarkably low for years. Flat sill
yer selling for $40 dozen IN the last ten
price fluctuates according to the demand
A spoon selling for s.. so a few months ago
is s. today. The Gorham people have
withdrawn their old prices until further
notice.
A Syndicate Dictates Prices.
mo reason on earth for the jump in
the price of diamonds" said Ralph Peter
son of the James Hayden shop, Except
that the supply is controlled by an Eng
fish syndicate who want more money than
thew have. Funny thing is that we're
selling more diamonds than ever; the
harder a thing is to get the more people
want it, We're selling more diamond en-
gagement rings than we have for years.
In 1902 we sold carat stones for $l47 that
YOU won't be able to get after the first Of
Mr. peterson attributes the big silver
rise to the higher cost of living. .
The miners are demanding more pay,
he explained, labor costs more because
it costs more to live. Don't see any I'M
mediate chance for reduction. We had an
increase in May and in october OF per
cent each time.