Ch. 15: How to Buy Diamonds

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	354	THE DIAMOND

	though some of it is badly cut, it has seriously affected the price of stones ranging about eighths. Few small buyers realize the value of good proportion and fine cutting. They often err in the same manner as the general public do, thinking that a parcel of the same quality as another is necessarily cheaper if it is a few dollars less per carat. A better knowledge of goods and a few figures would show the error. If stones are perfectly proportioned and cut, they will be very brilliant and effective. Suppose a lot of such stones is offered at two hundred dollars per carat, and another lot of the same quality but cut thick, is offered in competition at one hundred and ninety dollars per carat. One from the second lot, of the size of a carat stone out of the first lot, would probably weigh from one and one-sixteenth to one and one-eighth. The finely cut stone would cost two hundred dollars; the other, not nearly as desirable, would cost from two hundred and one dollars and eighty-eight cents to two hundred and thirteen dollars and seventy-five cents. As the poorer looking stones would cost more than the finer ones for the same size, the first lot would be worth much more than the difference of per-carat price. This applies to all sizes, and the fact is particularly important when applied to Melees, as weight is seldom considered by the consumer in cluster work, whereas it is, in larger sizes and single stones. Some dealers who know these conditions prefer to buy the heavier stones at a lower price, because their customers judge comparative value by the weights given. They can carry from one store to another the weight for comparison, but not the exact size. Though it is quite true that lack of knowledge about

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