HOW IMITATION JEWELS ARE MANUFACTURED,

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LI, Issue 9065, 10 April 1906, Page 2

HOW IMITATION JEWELS ARE MANUFACTURED,

Of all ihe remarkable trades which in the last ten years have developed from the stage of crudity to the rank of an exact science, none, perhaps, is more remarkable in its peculiar character than the trick of preparing imitation gems. Time was when the expert dealer in genuine diamonds or rubies had good r-eason for his boast that no imitation gem, however perfect in its preparation, could deceive the eye of an. expert or even a lay judge for even a minute, and that paste under certain lights invariably betrayed its presence. But in the last decade tlie preparation of finely cut paste stones, especially in France, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, where nearly the whole of the diamond cutting is done, has reached an altitude of perfection, provocative of every species of fraud. A microscopic examination by an expert is necessary in order to detect the difference between a diamond worth 500 dollars and the paste duplicate worth 20 dollars. "A paste stone properly, prepared exhibits the same lustre, tlhe. same prismatic beauty as a diamond of the first water," said one of the most famous among the Maiden lane experts. "In tliese days we are compelled to apply every chemical test in order to distinguish the difference between fine paste and a pure white flawless diamond of the first water. The purity of t3io materials employed ensures an equal degree of clearness, depth and transpar ency. It is possible, too, to imitate color so that a ruby, emerald or sapphire is undistinguisihabl& from tlhe oceal jewel." A combination of red lead, rock crystal, potassium, carbonate borax and white arsenic constitute tihe material from which (he* paste is 'made. According to the New York experts an increase in the amount of lead used in the production of "paste" wall produce a corresponding increase in brilliancy and play of color '•Now, while it is possible to produce a past© gem which will mainitaan its brilliancy," said the expert, "there is one not yet surmounted. The. paste gem must always be of softer material than tihe genuine diamond. "From tihe preparation of stones avowedly paste to actual 'fraud by the sub-

I stitution of paste for real gems is but j a step. In India, in Turkey, and in St. I Petersburg are many merchants who charge a large sum for a stone represented to b© a diamond, but which on examination by an expert is seen to be merely a piece of glass bottle." "Probably, howerer, the 'doublet' provides the most popular form of fraud | The doublet, consists of an upper part iof glass. Skilfully cemented together, the , two -parts leave no trace of tlie union, ! and the imitation half partakes of so:ne- | tiling of the fire and brilliancy of t3ie genuine stone. Colored stones are imitated by means of rock crystal, ground to re- ' • semble the usual appearance of the particular stone to be imitated, but with a hollow cavity inside fiLled with colored ( water. A plate of rock crystal, cleverly . fitted in, produces a fine ruby, sapphire, emerald or amethyst difficult to distinguish from the genuine stone. j "Whenever you see a fine-looknig pearl in tlie hair of a beautiful woman," added the expert in conclusion, "warn your wife \ to pause before «!he- envies tlie wearer. \ For all that she or anyone else, &aye an \ old expert of forty years' experience in the business, can tell, the seemingly priceI less pearl may be so much opaline, treated carefully with hydrofluoric acid, and worth about 50 dollars. Very good imitar uons of the genuine pearl aaie produced \ from highly polished mother-of-pearl."