STOLEN GEMS

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 August 1927, Page 10

STOLEN GEMS

DIAMOND THIEVES AT WORK. stolen gems, if they are of any value, have their trail blazed in all their wanderings as thoroughly as a Bank of England note. The larger stones have each an indiyidifhli.ty of their own. Their weight, colour, shape, and any flaws are carefully' recorded in the books of every 1 through whose hands they pfiss. TP disguise fi diamond is a slow . unprofitable fa?k. Recutting involves a loss of at least 50 per cent., find to split a cut stone is virtually Moreover, the value of a sfphe increases in proportion to its Weight fiy a geometrical progression. |S fo say, a stone of 10 carats ia'AVprih very'much more than double flip Value Of one of 5 carats. Eycri 'should a thief decide to accept" the loss incurred as the price bt S dlsguisrrig his loot', fie must find a workman able to carry out the, highly'skilled task of remitting. “A “crook-'dijimond-cutter npist first equip himself with aii expensive plant. A'’poyvgrdrjyen steel yvhgel, rotating at 2fido revolutions a minute (so fas£ that to the "eye it appears to fie mo{fcslgpsl,:is tjio fiffit essential- Diamond paste , mad? UP of powered scraps apd worthless stones, is smeared ilpQn. ii, ajpd’lhe stone Is pressed down upop the spinning surface by a leadejri weight' ' . ’ 'Even she process is a long one. A. Stone of any considerable size will' require at least a month to cut, for' diamonds vary ip hardness, the Wbite” the hardest as well as onVx>f the most’yaluaWe. IVtlrh pearls, how,?,yer, w e Procedure is..different? ill' round, oval, button, or baroque padded, tp their colour, texture, and perfiup B marks or flaws, leave only wgy to fiisguisc them. A pearl Is dppqultefi in the dys(pr shell in a series of concentric layers, and it niayj at a ypry great risk of spoiling it, be "skinned” —that is, hayp, the outer? most" layer removed. There are only two or three pien |n England who undertake this work, and the process is a secret;’SvhlcK' pjey jpard closely.