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'Only One Wesselton in a Thousand Has That Living Firel It
Is Really a Superdiamond!"
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"*\HE polished young clerk bows
most courteously, perhaps
even with a touch of most
courteous sadness in his manner.
"Ah, yes," he says, in his soft tones.
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"You are quite right; the price is somewhat
over current figures for a stone of
that weight. But we feel justified in
asking it, because of the unusual quality
in the stone. Only one Wesselton in a
thousand has that living fire. This is
really a superdiamond!"
He takes it from the velvet, and twirls
it tentatively. Veritable tongues of quivering
flame shoot out from it, as he dexterously
catches the light upon it; it is,
indeed, a beautiful stone. He moves as
though to replace it.
"Would you be interested in some
other stone—something closer to normal
grades in the same weight ?"
You would not, and tell him so. After
all, it is "one Wesselton in a thousand"
—and you can save something on the
mounting. So after more soft-toned talk,
you complete the transaction; the clerk
bows you to the door; the uniformed
footman obsequiously swings it open
before you; and you step out on the
street, owner of "one of the finest bluewhite
stones of the weight ever produced
920
WHAT IS
STONE
AND
By MARTIN
in South Africa." You tell your
friends about it on occasion;
and ever and anon you look at
the diamond, and reflect that of
all the Wesseltons in the world,
only one in every thousand has
a lustre to compare with that of
yours. And you are thoroughly
satisfied with your bargain.
Well—so be it! That is one
angle to the precious-stone
game; and offhand one would think that
it goes to prove that lustre is the thing
when the matter of evaluating gems of
a given weight is concerned. And perhaps
that would be right—only if it is,
rubies are most unsatisfactory and rebellious
stones.
You can take two rubies that are the
same in every respect—weight, cutting,
lustre, and all the rest—to a man who
knows the ruddy stones, for evaluation,
and after a few moments with a lens or
a microscope, he may tell you that one
is worth, say, forty dollars and the other
four hundred. Astounded, you ask him
what is the matter—is one an imitation?
"No," he answers with a whimsical
smile, "they are both rubies."
"Then what is wrong with the one?"
you ask, perplexed.
If he is of a literal frame of mind,
he may tell you forthwith. If not, and
if in addition he is a friend of yours, so
that he is willing to let you see behind
the scenes a bit, he may show you the
two under the glass. Both will have
minute air bubbles in them; but in one
stone these bubbles will be distorted and
will seem to flow along definite lines,
while in the other they will be spherical,
and more probably will be arranged concentrically
about the center. Also in one,