DIAMONDS COMMERCIALLY 33
exchange
value. Many buy them as. a luxury only because they consider them as
good for money in case of need. In good times they tell with dazzling
emphasis the success of the owner; in times of stress they are a quick
asset or unquestioned collateral that requires no search or legal
documents, but is always ready to tide him over. This idea often leads
to surprise and dissatisfaction. It is no uncommon thing for a person
to bring to Maiden Lane a diamond for sale, with the confident
expectation of receiving as much money for it as he paid in a retail
store. So strong is this idea of it as a thing of staple value, that
the items of profit for the various handlers are lost sight of, and
these profits are necessarily considerable.
Large
as the diamond trade is, the sale of precious stones is comparatively
slow. They cannot be turned into money at their market value at will
like silver, wheat and other things in constant demand. And being a
commodity of slow and irregular sale and of great price, the margins
of profit are sometimes greater. If therefore, a diamond bought at
retail is brought to a cutter for sale, the profits of the retailer and
the jobber must be deducted. The cutter estimates it at what he could
produce it for, less a further percentage should the stone be
undesirable in any way for his particular stock. This rule applies to
any stage of the trade, and it follows therefore, that the retailer can
afford to pay more than the jobber, and the latter more than the
cutter. Notwithstanding the loss entailed in the disposal of a
diamond by sale to a dealer, there is probably no other thing outside
of staple commodities which will hold value as
securely and long, or can be turned into money as read-3
