when he would otherwise have to buy at a high mark.
The
dealer must also know color, to be a good buyer. Calling a lot "
crystals " does not make them so, and it is not uncommon for goods to
be rated higher than they really are. It should be remembered also that
large parcels draw more color than small ones. To judge the comparative
color of two lots, one much larger than the other, a cut from the
larger one of a portion about equal in size to the smaller, should be
made for comparison. Browns are very deceptive in lots. Some
dirty-looking parcels separate to very fair stones, especially in
Melees.
Since
two, three, and four grainers have been in active demand, the importer
is sometimes at his wits' end to supply lots of those sizes. To cover
defects in his stock, he makes up lots averaging the size wanted. If
the buyer is not mindful, he may when he wants four-grain-ers, buy for
example, a lot of twenty stones weighing twenty carats, in which there
will not be a half dozen one-carat stones. Nearly all will be over or
under, so balanced that the lot will average one carat each. Beyond
the fact that he does not want smaller or larger, he also loses on the
transaction, as those weighing a little over one carat are worth no
more, while those weighing under, are worth less. Say he buys twenty
stones weighing twenty carats at a hundred and eighty-five dollars per
carat, worth that price for carat stones, and gets six one-carat
stones, and seven each of three-quarter and one and one-quarter stones:
