The
Orient is not as strange and far away as it was. In the old times,
jewellers could and undoubtedly did take advantage of the awe with
which things from the mysterious East were regarded, and of the general
ignorance, to obtain large sums for very ordinary if not inferior
gems. Even in these days, many are influenced more by the source from
whence they come than by a critical knowledge of the gems they buy.
Some, who would not buy the most beautiful fresh-water pearl, will pay
an exorbitant price for one poorer and less valuable because it is
oriental. La Pellegrina in the hands of an obscure dealer would be
passed unnoticed by many who would be enraptured by a more ordinary gem
from a jeweller or person of renown.
It
is presumable therefore that prejudice was more influential when
ignorance prevailed to a greater extent than now. John Spruce of
Edinburgh in 1705 complained that he could not sell a necklace or
pendant of fine Scotch pearls in Scotland. He says "the generality seek
for oriental pearls because farther fetched," and continues: "At this
very day I can show
284
