NO BAN LIKELY

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3156, 12 August 1942, Page 6

NO BAN LIKELY

RINGS FOR ENGAGEMENTS SHORTAGE OF DIAMONDS SKILLED WORKMEN SCARCE Although there is a distinct shortage of diamonds, a ban on diamond engagement rings, similar to that proposed in Australia, is not considered likely in the Thames Valley. (Stocks are short, and the demand has slightly increased, in the way war ihasi of fostering romance, but the position is not desperate. The chief cause of concern is the scarcity of skilled workmen.

In Australia shortages of labour and of stones and other material are the reasons for the ban being considered. Also, much of the machinery for manufacturing jewellery there has been turned over to the war effort. In this country, according to one jeweller, there is not enough of such machinery for it to be of any use. Most rings are hand made. Tokens have been suggested as a substitute for engagement rings in Australia, though as far as is' known no official decision has yet been reached. It was suggested that such a ban might act as a restraint on marriage, but this is not likely to be taken seriously.

Rings are not manufactured or set in any of the towns of- the Thames Valley but come from main centres such as Wellington and Auckland. In Auckland the scarcity of skilled workmen is making it difficult for firms to keep up their manufacturing and repair work, and many repair jobs now take weeks. One firm had to ask an elderly retired man to come back to clean up the arrears in jewellery repairs. •The labour shortage is' probably Dominion-wide, for a classic example comes from Wellington. A manufacturing firm there formerly had a staff of 25 and is how reduced to two men, 60 .years old. The manager himself is back on the bench after 25 years. Wedding Ring Tradition As for wedding rings, it has been known for some time that .platinum is now largely impossible to get and there has had to be a return to gold. There is no restriction in this country on the manufacture of- 9-carat wedding rings.

In connection with this tradition of the gold wedding ring an interesting story is told of a clergyman who refused to marry a couple with a diamond wedding ring. Evidently the girl, wishing to -be different, had chosen a diamond ring, but the clergyman disapproved. Fortunately the impasse did not occur during the ceremony itself, but beforehand, so the ring was changed and all was well. Asked whether girls could not be trained to do manufacturing and repair work, city jewellers said the apprenticeship for such work took five years, and workmen had not the time to begin to train girls now. There were, however, girls doing polishing and cleaning work in some firms and also certain types of metal work in the manufacture of jewellery. Changes’ in Design

In some jewellery small changes in design have had to be made. 'Clasps and Jinks, for instance, are now made more simply than formerly, and since gold and silver chains' are almost impossible ■ to obtain, substitute metals have to be used.

“There is not likely to be any real shortage of engagement rings,” it was stated. “We have plenty of diamonds for mounting, and as: long as we can get the workmen to keep going we should be able to meet the demand.”

So it looks as though the bride-to-be in this country will not be put to the test of proving whether it is only the glamour of the ring that attracts her. And her betrothed will still have to gaze over’ the counter while the solitaire or “cluster” is selected.