In
one sense they are an investment, for they are productive of larger
returns in pleasure than most things. They will continue to pay
interest in that way after a hundred fashions have come and gone, and
after a hundred possessors have owned them and gone. So, as the
principal use of money is to get what we want, and pleasure is what we
most want, and diamonds will bring pleasure for an indefinite period,
the man who advertizes them as a good investment may be right after
all.
In
order to buy diamonds well, one must have a good knowledge of the
stones and values, or good judgment in selecting a dealer and faith in
him. It is owing to the lack of these in the transactions of the
general public, that so much poor material is marketed at
unreasonably high prices, and that so much distrust exists.
It
is a fact that many dealers take advantage of the general ignorance
about values to get as much as possible for a stone, quite regardless
of its value. It is also true that some, in order to make the sale,
will represent the stone to be better than it is. Slightly imperfect
stones are called perfect. Badly flawed stones are said to be slightly
imperfect. White stones are termed blue; off-color stones, white;
brownish stones, steel-white, and so on. Nothing is said of cut and
proportion when a thick, or over-spread, or badly cut stone, is in
competition with one that is well made.
All
this is due, partly to the dishonesty of some dealers, and in part to
the desire of many buyers, to buy for a lower price than a dealer can
profitably sell at.
The influence of advertising is peculiarly great in this age. Untruths so glaring that they are ridiculous to the
