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924 ILLUSTRATED WORLD
ions—and many a dealer loses his all
because he loses his intimate feeling for
this subtle current of price movement.
But even this complicated situation
becomes simple when compared with the
situation that exists because of artificial
stones. Artificial stones fall into two
classes—imitation, and synthetic stones.
The imitation stones of the transparent
type—that is, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires,
rubies, and the like—are generally
made of "paste"—that is, a special
glass, colored to imitate the stone. Synthesized
stones are genuine in every way
except their origin—they are made in
man's laboratory instead of Nature's,
and that is all. Each type will serve in
many ways as a satisfactory substitution
for the genuine article—and every substitution
that becomes possible or popular
affects the market price of the genuine
article by cutting down the volume
of demand.
Paste stones are readily distinguishable
from the genuine by the fact that all
spurious gems of this sort are soft. They
can be scratched by a piece of quartz,
and no real gem of the transparent sort
can. This softness makes them subject
to rapid deterioration, and the only
legitimate use for them is in work not
intended to be permanent—theatrical
costumes, temporary furnishings and
ornamentations, and the like. Their
effect upon values is not great.
It is true that even diamonds will show
wear. If a solitaire ring is worn for
years while a great deal of work is done
with the hands, the facets will not be as
sharp as the day they were cut. Where
jewels are handed down from generation
to generation, it often becomes
necessary in the end to have them recut,
and they lose their ability to refract
light in the same degree because of the
rounding edges. This wearing, however,
is a slow process, and may be disregarded
largely, where the owner's lifetime is the
span to be considered.
The imitation pearl is something
radically different. It is made by coating
the inside of a small hollow glass
sphere with a preparation made from
fish scales, and then filling the globule
with wax. The resulting product is distinguished
readily from the genuine not
only by the presence of the hole, but by
the fact that a small drop of ink on the
imitation gives a reflection from the
inner surface of the glass. Except for
the fact that they are not genuine, however,
these pearls should be worth more
than their counterparts of equal grade,
for they are harder and hold their lustre
better. They are factors to be counted
on in figuring prices.
Synthetic stones, however, are the
genuine pests, when it comes to price
determination. There are two of them
—sapphire and ruby—and except in the
matter of bubbles already mentioned, are
practically indistinguishable from the
genuine. They are made by introducing
either the dust from cuttings and inferior
genuine stones or the raw material
-—pure aluminium oxide—into the flame
of an oxy-acetylene blowpipe, and then
directing a slow flame upon a platinum
table. The melted mineral comes out in
the form of a globule, which builds up
as the process is continued. It will be
red, thus making a ruby, if chrome alum
be added to the material used, and blue,
thus becoming a sapphire, if titanium
oxide be added. Except for the fact that
titanium oxide is not the coloring matter
used by nature, these processes duplicate
the natural method of creating the gems
in question.
Naturally, perfect imitations such as
this have a pronounced effect on market
values. They exercise a peculiar influence,
reducing the value of smaller
genuine stones, by reason of competition,
and enhancing the value of larger and
more rare types, both by increasing the
minimum income necessary from each
stone because of the lowered profit in
cheaper genuine grades, and by making a
really genuine stone something even
more "classy" than if there were no good
artificial ones. That follows naturally
from the fact that one of the reasons
why men buy jewelry is their desire to