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136 THE DIAMOND
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are
the white stones of the high-class jewelers. Diamonds of the color
known to the general public as white, are called in the trade, " silver
capes." They also are graded as " silver capes" and " top silver
capes." " Capes," also subdivided in the same way, are tinted still
deeper and are sold to the public often as " commercial white." "
By-water " are quite yellow, though the color is not deep enough to
place them among the fancies, and is sufficiently lost to the eye when
mounted to warrant their retention in the list of white stones.
Browns
are all included under the one classification. Those having an almost
imperceptible shade of brown are separated and sold as steel-white,
pink, etc. Fancy browns are not included in this grade.
The
green-tinted diamonds, being little known by the public and many
dealers, are used by manufacturers and sold when mounted, as white. As
those who look for color have only yellow in mind, the greenish hue is
seldom detected, especially as stones of this character rarely weigh
much over 1/2 carat and are usually smaller. A few are of
sufficiently deep color to be classed as fancies. They are a light
apple-green similar to the Willemite.
In
the list of fancies which have been found, are the following, given in
the order of their rarity, the first being most rare. Emerald green,
red, sapphire blue (invariably of poor color), pink (seldom more than a
tint), black, orange, canary, coffee-brown, reddish-brown,
golden-brown, and tints of violet and blue which are the more rare as
they become deeper.
There
is another class of stones the color of which varies materially
according to the light in which they are viewed. These are classified
as " false colors." As the
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