MOST PRECIOUS STONES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue XXI, 13 November 1897, Page 666

MOST PRECIOUS STONES.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE VALUE OF RUBIES. ‘To the question, ‘‘Which is the most valuable precious stone ?” nine people out of every ten at least will, without the slightest hesitation, reply, “The diamond,’’ ’ said a dealer in gems to a Washington ‘Star’ writer. ‘But the value of a good-sized diamond cannot approach that of a ruby of the correct colour and similar dimensions. ‘The worth of small rubies—stones that are of less than a carat—is, if anything, rather less than that of diamonds of a like description, but the rare occurrence of large specimens of that dark earmine tint which is looked upon as the sine qua non of a perfect ruby causes the value of these gems to increase in a far greater proportion than in the case of diamonds. Rubies weighing more than four carats are so exceptional that when a perfect one of five carats is brought to the market it will command ten times as high a sum as a diamond of the same weight, while rubies of six carats, without crack or flaw and of the proper colour, would, in all probability, bring as high a price as $5,000 per carat, or fifteen times as much as a diamond of like size and faultlessness. ‘All over the East rubies are regarded with the greatest possible favour, and so it has been from the earliest times of which we have any record. The finest specimens are found in Burmah, and from time immemorial it has been a law of that country that all rubies of above a certain size are the property of the King, whoever may have been fortunate enough to find them. It is thought to this day there are concealed in Burmah among the treasures which the British invasion caused to be hidden away rubies of far greater size and value than any which have up to now been seen either in Europe or this country. ‘The law which gave fine rubies to the ruler of the land has undoubtedly caused the destruction in modern times of many magnificent specimens of this gem. for the finders of larger stones than usual have, whenever the opportunity was favourable, broken them into fragments, each weighing less than a carat, to insure themselves the possession of several rubies incomparably less valuable, it is true, than the original in which they were once united, but still their own instead of the King’s.’