I
elect to refer conjointly to the ruby an,d sapphire, because although
no two denominations can more considerably vary in commercial value,
they form the same body, differing only in colouring matter. The ruby,
at any rate since 1700, has remained the most highly valued of the
gems. A ten carat ruby, at that time, was worth £ 1,300.
I
possess the record of the sale of a twenty carat ruby for ,£8,000, or
considerably over double the value in 1700. About the year 1800, fine
rubies of one carat were valued at about 10 guineas, but a six carat
stone was recorded to have been sold for ,£1,000. It is not uncommon,
in these days, to obtain £150 for a specimen ruby of 1-1/2 carats.
From
these facts it is easy to conclude that fine rubies prohibit current
application, but it should be remembered that artificial prices refer
only to gems of; the true " pigeon blood" colour, untainted either by
brown or violet. The high price of the ruby is likewise due to the
uncertainty of the supply, and to the hoarding of the principal gems by
Eastern princes.
It
will be interesting to mark the influence upon rubies, once European
control shall be definitely established over the Burmese mines. There
are those who assert that these mines, scientifically worked, are
destined to yield up a vastly increased quantity of this most precious
material. If this were verified, rubies must diminish in value, but, on
the other hand, a- flourishing trade would spring up, as was the case
with sapphires when the prolific discoveries in Kashmir reduced by 50
per cent, their market value, and admitted their application to
jewellery within the reach of moderate incomes. Others affirm that the
Burmese ruby mines, which have been uninterruptedly worked from early
ages, are exhausted with reference to important gems, and that rarely
is a stone produced of more than half a carat. My own experience shows
this to be an exaggeration. On the interesting occasion of my report to
the Indian Government upon the Burmese loot, I found, on the contrary,
that a very large proportion of the rubies exceeded half a carat in
weight. Of the quality, however, I must say that not one-hundredth
portion was suitable for facetting, or for the European market. If such
may be taken as representative of the Burmese supply, it seems right to
conjecture that slight cheapening influence will be brought to bear
upon rubies of high quality.
The
sapphire, as I have said, is another coloured ruby. It is curious to
note that blue-tinted corundum has always occurred in larger quantities
than red. The sapphire, which once was next in value to the ruby, is
to-day the cheapest of the major gems, and yet from its intrinsic
beauty, and unrivalled blue colour, its disappearance would be to the
art goldsmith a greater misfortune than that of either the ruby or the
emerald, neither of which seem to have enjoyed the same sentimental
association as the sapphire which, among many uses, we constantly find employed as an episcopal gem.
Commercially
viewed, the sapphires, both blue and yellow—the last known as Oriental
topazes—were almost of identical value about the year 1700. In fact,
the value of all sapphires below 30 carats was even less than it is
to-day. Here we have reference to _ parcels of stones averaging 6
grains at 40s. per carat, and to a fine 30 carat sapphire valued at
,£400. About 1830, sapphires began to rise to exorbitant prices, which
were maintained until about six or seven years ago, when the large
quantities of rough brought from Kashmir and Siam literally glutted the
markets, which scarcely yet can be said to have recovered their normal
condition. If the supply be fifty times greater than at the beginning
of last century, the demand created by the very cheapening of sapphires
is practically certain to stay further decline in value. As an
illustration of the plenteousness of sapphires, I recently received in
one and the same consignment 1,300 stones, weighing 4,626 carats, the
sterling value of which was £16,680, or an average per carat of £3 12s. lid.
The emerald, or smaragdus of
the Latins, is one of the most beautiful, although the softest of the
precious gems, easily fusible with borax into a colourless glass. The
huge emeralds of Pliny and Theophrastus must have been either crystals
of beryl—
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