348 THE DIAMOND
much;
do the best you can for me," it is worth something to him to have a
good stock shown him by one who is responsible. It costs that man the
interest on a large sum of money to carry that stock. It cost him years
and money to establish his reputation. Stones break and chip sometimes
in the setting; it is worth something to be ensured against loss in a
case of that kind, as one is when dealing with a responsible man.
Unfortunately there are a few men in the trade who will change stones
if they have an opportunity. They will sell one stone and deliver a
poorer one. Dishonesty of this kind is very rare, however. Perhaps no
trade is more free from such rascals.
Large
stores of good character have their advantages. The clerks do not
always know much about the goods, but the jewels have been examined by
men connected with the establishment who do, and they have passed on
the grade and price. The buyer knows, without argument, just what each
stone can be bought for. They may make a somewhat larger profit than
the small dealer of equally good reputation, but usually they can also
buy to a little better advantage, because they buy larger parcels and
quantities, so that the price would be about the same.
A
difficulty which the trade has to contend with, is the ancient Oriental
idea still clinging to it, that to do business in precious stones, the
public must be kept in ignorance of the real facts about them. That
idea is the survival of an ignorant past. To-day the people of the
United States know much more about them than the public of any other
country. They also buy sixty per cent, of all the African diamonds
mined. The Ameri-
