SOCIETY’S GLITTERING GEMS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 17

SOCIETY’S GLITTERING GEMS

AN EXPERT THROWS/NEW LI&IfT- : ■> ■•. v ■ -' ; v ... , = .There,- are a r godd,.<raany:..dap-i!dkiic;s; ih existence,., blit very few who are , intellect h tual, scientific and learned men. The' great majority are; mere toilers, with ra ’ limited mechanical knowledge, working : by rule - and. compass i within a narrow ~ groove.’ : ;..•. ■* ; ’ There is a gentleman in the West End of London —the son of a doctor—who lias raised the art of stone-cutting to a. high scientific , level. He has clients in all parts of the world, besides ; being largely consulted and employed by the leading London jewellers. Hej him- - self, moves: in. : that: magic "circle called ‘‘society,the diehiaens of which he does • so much to adorn. ?; ■ ; , ; ■ ,*. ■” The writer, was recently fortunate enough to obtain a chat with the lapi-cr dary, who imparted some interesting and instructive information.; He said —

“The fas Mon in gems is most peculiar. Altogether there -are ■ about 120 different kinds, ’ but so far ras I : can discover: there is : 'no - adequate reason.'why society’s' pa; • tfdnage shouldO be hdrirost 1 exclusively; confined to'so few; There'hr © stones T of : eqtial, if 'hot 1 greater^'beauty than the"

diamond, the emerald, the ruby, or the sapphire. 1 doubt if the wearers themselves: can give- any explanatory reason for their preference. Take this Incident, for instance:

“Some time back a mdy was in a London jeweller's shop, inspecting some articles. Her eye fell upon a jewelled bracelet, which she picked up with an exclamation of admiration. ‘Oh, I should like this.' said she, ‘how prettily the emeralds are arranged.’ At once the shopman proceeded to inform his customer that the stones -were not emeralds, but a particular kind of garnet. Whereupon the lady replaced the bracelet with a look of disappointment. Her reason was a mere nominal one, for the stones had at first greatly pleased her. As a matter of fact, garnets are less durable than emeralds, but this is not generally kndwn. -

‘‘Here is an instance of a jevveileris ignorance. A gentleman once purchased from a London jeweller what he .supposed to be a gold ring set with an emerald. For some time he wore this on his finger, when one day a casual acquaintance caught sight of it. He evinced considerable interest about it, and finally offered to purchase it. The price being a good one -the ring changed hands. The casual acquaintance was a dealer, and his experienced eye had detected that which had passed unnoticed both by the jeweller and his customer, namely, that the alleged emerald was nothing less than a green diamond.” “How does colour influence the value of a stone?” “In its, relation to the accepted or correct colour. Gems are valued for their beauty, durability and rarity. If you have one of an unusual colour you have a faro thing. But it must be a decided colour. The accepted colour for sapphires is cornflower or royal blue; for rubies, ‘pigeon's blood’’for emeralds, rich, velvety dark green; and for diamonds, blue-white, Russian red, Hope blue and others. “From time to time I have a great many stones through my hands. for-test-mg as well as cutting. 'Finds 5 from abroad are sent to me to judge as to quality, value, etc. For this service I, of course, exact a fee. I recently had a sapphire through my hands, which -had cnce been in a crown? of State. Its value was £3OOO, and its weight 59 carats. Another sapphire I received - weighed 175 carats, but on account pf defective colour it was worth less .than the one weighing 59.- One day I may receive. a consignment of stones which in the aggregate are of no more value than a single stone received, say, the next day. “There is one thing I should like to tell you, and that is, that I have a very bad memory for. everything but precious ©tones. Figure*, names, places, slip from iny mind almost as soon as received ,and refuse to return unaided, but once a stone lias passed through ray hands I never forget it. I frequently go into drawing rooms and recognise on the persons of . guests present jewels which have passed through my hands years before. 1 can detect my own. -workmanship immediately. “A few words about family heirlooms. Here, again, ignorance is anwerable for some strange discoveries. Not very long ago an acquaintance of mine—a ladyknowing me nature of my business, asked me if I would kindly give her a call to inspect, and possibly to value, a jewel.; which had been in her family for a great many years. I consented, and duly put in an appearance. The occasion was made a kind-of ‘gathering of the clans,' and the heirloom was introduced with - much ceremony-and importance. It was a large brooch, principally formed of what was presumed to be a. diamond. It was clear that I was expected to stagger everybody present by the mention of a fabulous figure in valuation, and had the stone been genuine such assuredly • would liave been my mission. But it was- a mere J imitation, and I “broke it’, as gently., as- I could. I leave you ,to imagine the scene that followed. This sort of thing happens more frequently with .family heirlooms than generally supposed. The fad of they matter is, the genuine stones; have at , some time or other been extracted to ‘raise the wind'' by some impecunious auoestoiy and the practically’' . worthless imitation substituted,”. to-. r - .flls there muc|. Idifflculty experienced i in matching; a gem?”u 1 .y. . .v. r.. ’. -0 “Sometimes. - The most difficult to match, as a rule, is a pearl. 'Sometimes , years are spent in search before the right one turns up. . .Diamonds are- not s’o troublesome,, and if the required stone ? cannot be obtained in London, a journey, to Amsterdam will ihvhrnffoly complete' the business.”