HINTS ON JEWELS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VI, Issue 22, 31 May 1890, Page 6

HINTS ON JEWELS.

A WOMAN who has a red face will not wear emeralds, even if an arbirtrary man-milliner sends her home adress that emeralds would embellish. A woman with a poor complexion does not improve it by pearls. These lovely and innocuous ornaments really derive their chief lustre from transparent skin, as they depend largely on reflected lights. A wise man will not select the precious opal for his fiancee's ring, especially if the engagement is to be a long one, nor as a christening gift to a robust child. Opals are unlucky, they say, probably because they are extremely brittle. An acquaintance of mine, a great collector of precious stones, lost a fine opal under particularly annoying circumstances. He was pricing a fine specimen at a wellknown jewellers. He and the shopman were passing it from hand to hand ; it fell, and was pulverised on the glass counter. Each accused the other, and eventually the gentleman had to pay, and the jeweller lost more than the worth of the stone in a valuable customer. Science tells us that the opal is a resinous quartz which owes all its beauty to its imperfections. The milky ground, transfused with sunset fires, derives its celestial colours from fissures interrupting the continuity of the substances. Is it therefore wondei ful that I do not recommend the opal for hard wear ? Do not try to reconcile a good sapphire with a sallow cheek. The spiteful thing will loudly announce your misfortune. But the gentle turquoise (always supposing you get a real one—they say the Orientals have not sold us a genuine turquoise for ten years) —is more amiable. There is no stone that so sets off’ a fair, white hand, and if its owner fall sick, or be troubled mentally, the turquoise will temper its vivid blue to a sympathetic green. I really think there is some ground for this old Turkish superstition, which no doubt means that the stone is sensitive to mephitic or acid vapours. One lady assured me that her turquoise—a great beauty—disclosed secrets ; and it used to be thought that a sympathetic bond existed between the stone and the giver, which made it a useful counsellor betwixt parted lovers. The diamond is thought to be perfectly ‘ becoming ’ to every face, besides being beautiful in itself ; and in moderation I think a brilliant spark is so. It gives freshness and life. But the huge electric lamps that millionaires lay on to their wives anil daughters are not becoming. They destroy entirely the brightness of the eyes, and darken a fair skin. They, perhaps, are less detrimental to a brown skin, only they make it browner—serving, like a single candle, to make darkness visible. —Mrs Haweis, in the Contemporary.

A servant-girl went to an apothecary for some castor oil, to be mixed with something which would disguise its taste. (In being asked if she liked soda water, she replied in the affirmative, when the apothecary gave her a glass seasoned with lemon and the oil. But she still lingered, waiting, and presently asked for the oil again, when the man informed her that she had already taken it. ‘ Oh, gracious,’ she cried, ‘ I wanted it for a man who is sick !’