Prices of the Pearl. 199
it
is cut out, and the shell part polished off; this, however,
notwithstanding the care that may have been employed, leaves a certain
portion of mother-of-pearl adherent, which reduces its value immensely.
Occasionally the pearl is a sort of wart, hollow inside; in this case
it is called coq de perle, and is of very little value.
The
curious articles of jewellery by Dinglinger, in the Green Vaults of
Dresden, mounted in gold and enamel, to carry out the' fanciful
resemblance of the pearl to some object, are made of this substance. A
pearl of this description, of the form of a strawberry, was shown at
the Exhibition of 1862, and was subsequently sold to an English
merchant for a ridiculously exorbitant price, its intrinsic value being
very trifling.
When
round pearls are used for setting in articles of jewellery, they are
split in halves. Those flat on one side, and convex on the otlier, are
much used; they are called button pearls (perks loutons), and are worth about 25 per cent, less than round pearls of the same size and quality.
Jeffries adopted the same mode of valuation for pearls as for diamonds, namely, multiplying the square of the weight by 8s., at
which he values a 4-grain pearl. His method of estimation may have been
a correct one at that time ; but as it would not be so now, I have
simply given the market price of the day, which, it must be noted, may
rise or fall according to circumstances.
Annexed is a list of the valuation of the pearls taken possession of by the Directory of France in 1791, made,
