As
for the white zircons, the jargoons, they have a very fair resemblance
to diamonds, for this is a hard stone and often of a good brilliance.
Very often it is called the Matura diamond, after the district in
Ceylon where it is obtained. But one peculiarity of the stone is that
when exposed to heat, or even to strong sunlight, it is apt to
deteriorate in colour, and may indeed fade badly.
To
simulate diamonds, jargoons have been cut "full cut" like diamonds;
that is, with fifty-eight facets. Another mineral which "more in the
past than to-day" has been used in jewellery of the cheaper sort to
obtain the diamond effect is that called marcasite (pyrites). Like the
rose-cut diamonds they were intended to represent, they also were cut
rose fashion; that is, with triangular facets. For there is an absolute
system and logic in the way stones are faceted. Types and individuals
demand special cutting, whether it be in the number of facets, the
shape of the facets or their arrangement.
In
my journeyings to and from Scotland I saw many jewellers' shop windows
crammed with trinkets in which were set stones of even lower status
than those named above, by some considered so common that they should
not be mentioned in the same breath as the distinguished company of
gems I have introduced in previous chapters. But they suited my state
and status at that time of my life, and this is the place if anywhere
for them in my private cavalcade of gems.
One,
the cairngorm, however, does make most attractive settings and can
look very effective. It is one of the several crystalline forms of
silica. Other prominent mem-
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