Evening star., 1924-01-20
Our American Diamond Bill
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

100000, were offered for resale at
less than purchase price. Such an un-
! foreseen event naturally rocked the
! entire diamond trade, but through the
skillful maneuvers Of the London Dia-
! mond Syndicate. which controlled the
| output of diamonds, diamond panic
was averted. There was a period of
rough sailing. but by the end of 1922
the German and Russian supplies had
| been absorbed and the new and ex-
tensive demand from America re-
| stored the industry's balance. Today
| the South African mines are again
running full blast.
In converting their gold into dia-
| monds. the Germans and Russians
were merely following an old and
well established custom. The value
| of such easily transportab1e treasure
| as diamonds has long been recog-
nized by countries engaged or about
| to engage in war. Gold is bulky and
hard to carry. but diamonds can cas-
| lily be removed to a place of safety in
the event or the invasion of the en-
emy. When the Germans We're ad-
! it is asserted that one of the French
ministers took the famous regent
diamond owned by the French gov
ernment to Bordeaux until the dan
| ger was over. 1t was then returned
to Paris. This gem, which is usually
shown in the Apollo Gallery of the
Louvre, is valued at 24S0,000.
Diamonds Easily TranspOrtable.
| The experience of centuries has
proved that when you want to hold
your property in a form that is least
| endangered from attack, which is
| most easily transported and most
! readily converted into cash, the dia-
! mond is the happiest choice. A his
tory of any of the famous diamonds
of the world easily proves this, as
most of them have lived an extreme
ly nomadic existence and have
| changed hands innumerabfe times.
One of the best illustrations, how
ever, is afforded by the so-called
Sancy diamond, which takes it's name
from one of it's famous owners
! Nicolas ne Harlai Sieur de Sancy
This gentleman was. the good friend
and treasurer Of Henry w of France,
who at one time found himself in
need of money to protect his crown.
To aid the king the sieur offered his
rare diamond as security and sent it
off to the bankers at Metz. On the
road the servant intrusted with the
| safe delivery of the diamond was
waylaid by robbers, so he swallowed
! the gem to protect it. When the rob-
bers were unable to find the jewel on
| the person of the servant or in his
| belongings they were so infuriated
| that they killed him. The sieur evil
IDENTIFY knew what his man would do
in a case Of this kind, for he prompt
| Iy recovered the diamond from the
messengers body.
1t is believed by many that a large
part of the fascination diamonds have
! for Americans. is based upon their
cash value rather than their mere
| beauty. The possession of a splendid
! diamond necklace is almost as good
as the possession of bonds, and even
! better when 1t comes to getting cred
| 1T. There have been instances, in
deed, when just the rumored possess
sion of valuable diamonds has kept a
man In luxury for years. The new
rich, who are now with us in such
large numbers, have not been wealthy
| long enough TO forget the diSadvan-
| tages of poverty. Many of them fear
| that what has come to them so quick
[ ly may some day depart with equal
rapidity, in which case they want to
| be sure of a certain amount of cash.
So they buy diamonds with the ut
| most prodigalfty, knowing that they
are an excellent Investment. The only
| thing that would be likely to jeopar-
| die such an investment would be
the manufacture of a satisfactory ar
an
attempts have met with no success.