States
on the importer, the duties on gems ranging from 10 to 30 per cent.,
the value of Diamonds has of late years so much enhanced, particularly
the small and middle-sized stones, say all below five carats in weight,
that nothing like a proportional value or ratio is obtained. Diamonds
follow the same laws which govern the value of every other
commodity—those of supply and demand; and as the
production of these gems has diminished, and the number of'wearers
greatly increased according to the population and acquired wealth, the
price has gone on augmenting, and no doubt will augment, unless some
new Diamond placers are discovered.
In
the year 1851, when in England, the author purchased a few Diamonds at
£ 6 per carat, which at this day cannot be replaced for £18 per carat.
It is, however, quite different with Diamonds of a larger size than
five carats, for the number of persons able and willing to invest the
sum of money required for the purchase of large stones has not
increased in any thing like the same proportion, and therefore their
value has not advanced in the same ratio as the smaller sizes. The
Brilliant of Messrs. Bishop & Bein, weighing 14 carats, would,
according to Jeffries' scale, be worth $19,600, while those gentlemen
would not object selling it for $14,000. It is impossible to lay down
any rule by which to calculate the value according to any arbitrary
connection with the weight; as any particular size is in demand or not,
so does that size augment in price or diminish.
A Diamond with the following qualifications is in conformity with fixed prices:
1st.
It must be perfectly free from the faintest tinge of color of any sort;
from any flaws, specks, marks or fissures in any part; must be bright
and lively, and free from what is technically called milk or salt,
which are semi-opaque imperfections in the body of the stone. Inorder
to ascertain this, it is sufficient to breathe on the stone, when any
defect or color will be apparent. It is necessary to look at a stone on
all sides, as a defect may exist which is not visible in looking at the
table.
2d.
The stone must be well proportioned and properly cut; the culet must be
one-sixth of the size of the table, from the table to the girdle must
be one-third, and from the girdle to the culet two-thirds of the whole
thickness of the stone. The size of the table should be four-ninths of
the extreme size of the stone. Any Diamond having its substance
otherwise divided is badly proportioned, and therefore worth less than
a properly proportioned stone.
