Page 6 Advertisements Column 7

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8100, 27 August 1904, Page 6

GETTING GOLD FROM ; STONES. -♦ HOW SHAM JEWELS ARE MADE AN3 WHAT THEY AEE MADE OF. (EnylieK Paptr.) Among all precious stones few «i* Wl <JC« tensivel7 imitated as the pearL The tm& • article is a silvery -■white, irideacent £•___> ♦xtracted from the pearl-oyflter. The ts*l peaxl is really aa unfruotif-ed egg »l tie oyster. Ita imitation is arrived at by a -heail* cal process. The liquor employed in flw manufacture is called "essence d'orienfei The baee of this compound is prepawd By throwing into water of ammonia the ituQ? ' lianfc scales of a small river fish called the blay. The white of the scales of the bleak fish is sometimes used, as well as that 61 the dace and roach. The 6cale_ are first oarefully washed and put to soak in water, whence pearly-like film falls away and forms a sediment at the bottom of "the vessel. This sediment ia worth to the manufacturer £5 an ounce.^ White wax or mucilage of gum-axabio forms part of the misrtUTe proper for the more important and expenaive imitation*, such 86 thote made to imitate the rare Oriental pearls which fetch fabulous prioes. A four-rowed necklace of real pearls costs from £500: to £1000, whereas the imitatioci article, so perfect in appearance and touch as to deceive the practised eye, only costs from about £20 to perhaps £§6. The imitation pearlfl are blown into shape by a patent process, and SOMETIMES THEY ARE 801-LED IS" A (."-UNDER. Even among the titled classes an_! moneyed persons „the more expensive artificial pearls are rery larg-ly worn. A well* known nobleman's wife, for instance, sport* a necklaoe whioh cofirt but 30gs, and it haa often been gueaged at £500. The diamond is popularly supposed to be the most expensive precious stone, but a good ruby will fetch a "longer price, carat for carat, than even a good diamond. If invested with the real pigeon blood colour, evenly distributed and without flaw, a ruby* is valued at ten' times the worth of a diamond. The ruby, like tha pearl, is, therefore, a favoirrite target for imitation. In France, where the making of "precious" stones is almost wholly carried out, they are able to collect the dust of r*jby istor.es and. by means of a new electrical proceed, fuse it into one stone. Of course, this can hardly be said to be an imitation,, as the new stone has all th? chemical and physical characteristics of the real article. It is in every respect ft ruby. But, singular to say, the jeweller looks askance at it, and declares that it is not genuine. They call it a " reconstructed " ruby, antlet it pass at that. Ib has no defects, nob the least sign of one, and herein lies tho cause why tho trado condemns it. IT IS TOO PERFECT. When, a few years ago, this manufactured ruby came on the market, the precious thing conld only be procured from one merchant in Paris, the man who held the secret aaid told it to nobody., Buyjers, even the sirartest connoisseurs, marvelled among thems-lves and wondered where the gems were found. People paid so much as £20 a carat, (at weight of four grains), and £100 for a stone weighing but five carats. The boom did not last long. It soon leaked out that the new rubies from Paris were " made " by art, and then the price dropped down.to £6 a carat. ' Art cannot produce as large a specimen of the ruby as it can of the pearl. Imitation rubies aire med^ small, but they- do* ceive just the game. They are produced chemically by fusion of alumina. The emera-d is another stone which ia cleverly imitated. 'A perfect emerald is tha rarest r,to>.\r- in 'the; world, though the trade rinks it -'after -the' ruby and the diamond. The foest-cmeVul-s ckine from Peru, the : imitations from Fra lice, and a few from Birmingham. The real article becomes electrio by friction, and herein lies the diffierenee between ifc and the imitation. In the making of the latter oxide oj chromium enters largely »into the composition, the paste being made up of a> green, crystallised, mineral which is to be found ii_) Asia, and to which protoxide of copper and silica are added, j ; y Many precious stones are imitated in the form of what theitrade calls "doublets." Ai thin layer, a mere shaving, of* the real stone is ( CUNNINGLY CEMENTED ON" TO AN" AKTIFICIAIi • /BASS, having all the characteristics of the genuine article. Few jewellers, if any at all, would pass this off on amy one as a. real, solid, genuine article ; but' when once it is donned it plays, the part of the real thing to perfec» tion. Artificial diamonds flood the market. The nature of the reavi article is simply pure carbon in a crystallised condition, and modern chemistry is so : advanced nowadays as to be able to show the way out of the difficulty of making a "precious" diamond. Two gigantic efforts were made at different times in Glasgow to produce diamonds - made by art. The first attempt was made by ai Mr M'Tear, and the second by Mr Ballantine Hannayi who succeeded. \ It is a singular fact that whilst the working clasees of the country patronis-d either the commonest imitation stuff or the genuine only, the bulk of the wealthier and leisured classes buy the more expensive imU tation articles amd leave the real, speaking, in a general way, severely alone, ■ Always keep ; a bottle of Chaanherlain's Cough Remedy' in the house, and take it afc the first symptom of a cold. An ounce ojf prevention is worth a pound of cure. 1 They miser sat amongst his gold. ''I would not part t ? ' he said, . "With half-a-guinea, tho' my life ■■** Were to be forfeited. But influenzd got him down, His breaths grew short* and fewer— "Take all I've got," he cried, but gfve Me WOODS' GBEAT PEPPERMINT CURE. ';..-." , . 9 You make a preparation for a rainy day j; then why not for a Cold or attack -of influenza? You don 5 t need to make costly preparation — merely invest Is 6d in a bottle of Chamberlaii-'s Cough Remedy. 1 Chambeflain's Cough Remedy not only cures you when attacked by Influenza, but prevents it leaving a nasty cough behind it. The safest and best on the market. 1 missing' friends. Any information forwarded to th* ___M-_g« . Of the "Lyttelton Times" in respect to nuausg friends will be duly posted to this adv-rtieec. Correspondents are requested to quote the date of the paper in Trnitfh thoir naxoes appear. If replits are required, the neoe#_BUt|; postage must be forwarded. ... ~~^oTicß— om-Clough. "Ty?:. TAMES COLCLOUGH, married to EEIZA- ; «i t BETH FOX, or their children, -wLlvJiear of something tb their advantage by comtffiun> eating with the undersigned. Anyone knowing of these people kindly mr form us. ....-.' DUNCAK* AND iIACGEEGOR, SolicitorsL 81_4 Princes Street, Dunedin. MISSIXG~FRIENDS. The whereabouts of JOHN BRADLEY, -who [eft Kuraaia, Westland, about twenty-two* -,-: years ago, and was last heard of at Ashburton, sighteen years ago, is wanted by his brother '.:■'•'' Charles, care ot Post Office, Stafford, West-;: land. .... ,-:.*■ . ... ,- ; , 8125 yl TUCKER (CRARi/ES H.), wrote from AucfcL; [Mid, N.Z., in 3i-3. B-^herJolin asks. LT7 y WARD (JOHN *nd MICHAEL), brick!^ ?rs, left Dublin forty years back for Melbourniu Brother James asks. Lit "HA^iEBS piSprHHß"Sl)rSed"arislin^» : c 1871. Sister Caroline soek3 her'daughter*. *4J > ,