LURE OF DIAMONDS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 275, 16 August 1932, Page 9

LURE OF DIAMONDS

Supremacy in Jewellery LEAD BY THE QUEEN * ‘Say it with diamonds!” There has never been a time in the history of jewellery when this slogan has had so much significance as it has to-day, says the “Dally Express.” The diamond remains a safe investment and a symbol of international value. That Is why the demand for diamonds, and especially for diamonds in exquisite new platinum, settings, is increasing, Young men who want to give their fiancees rings that will In twentyfive years’ time be as valuable as they are the day they are first worn do not hesitate to plump for diamonds. Older men who feel that they like to carry their surplus cash around the world with them—or entrust it to their wives—make it safe first by exchanging It for‘diamonds. Single women, bewildered by financial jig-saw puzzles, feel comforted when they see their little pile of saved-up pounds sparkling on their fingers in the shape of diamond rings. What kind of diamonds are most fashionable and what kind of settings do they adorn? “All kinds,” affirm the dressmakers, who say this is a year when more diamonds are being worn than have been worn for years. The supremacy of diamonds at the moment is largely due to the Queen, who so many times lately has been seen wearing these brilliant jewels at Royal entertainments. A diamond expert stated lately that solitaire diamond rings were still the favourite ones. Many new kinds of brooches were being worn.. Every woman. wanted a diamond watch wristlet—especially one with the modern dial. One item of real jewellery was replacing a multitude of artificial pieces of jewellery in the toilette of the well-dressed woman, “The perfect diamond,” said the expert, “is that which Is thick enough to allow perfect refraction being achieved in its cutting. In other words, it is the stone from which the cutter can obtain the greatest brilliance. “It should- have fifty-eight facets, which are scientifically cut at varying angles and In studied proportions to give the maximum brilliancy and scintillation. Weight does not determine its value; a heavy stone may be too thick, too wide, or out of balance. “The colour, of course, is of importance, and there are, for practical purposes, three grades, blue white, pure white, and fine white. You will notice that a diamond expert will always wear a single stone diamond ring. That is his standard for comparison.”