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146 THE DIAMOND
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the
yellow of the stone, or if the diamond was white, to give a bluish tint
to it when faced up. Not only was this done with individual stones, but
importers found that some of the dealers in Europe from whom they
bought parcels of diamonds, were open to suspicion. At one time there
was considerable and general alarm. Importers and dealers everywhere
resorted to the alcohol and acid bottles and there was a great cleaning
of diamonds. Importers found they had paid more for some stones in
Europe than their customers were sellÂing the like for here. The
bargains of bargain buyers disappeared. Pawnbrokers discovered that
they had loaned more than the market value on some of their pledges.
Before
suspicion was aroused there were men who habitually bought off-color
stones in rings and after painting, pawned them at a profit. For some
time a reputable manufacturer painted yellow diamonds and mounted them
for his customers with the paint on, in closed English set rings. When
he found that the device was being used to deceive patrons instead of
improving the appearance of stones sold for what they really were, he
discontinued the practice.
The
fraud did not last long, as the trade soon became too watchful, and
those who offered such stones acÂquired at once a reputation which
deterred knaves and caused honest men to watch closely all stones which
passed through their hands. A painted stone is rarely seen now.
If
well done it is difficult to find evidence of the paint with the naked
eye, but on turning the collet side about at different angles, a
metallic iridescence on the facets
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