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VALUES AND COMMERCE OF PEARLS
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On
a $5 base this necklace would be worth $50,018.75 according to the
first reckoning, and $49,989.60 according to the second; on a base of
$2.50 the figures would be $25,009.37 and $24,994.80 respectively.
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On
a $5 base this would represent a value of $49,946.30 and one of
$24,973.15 on a base of $2.50. The different grouping of the pearls
accounts for the slight reduction in value.
A
system of estimating the value of pearls which has recently been
introduced into Germany, is an adaptation of the ordinary method of
squaring the number of grains and then multiplying the result by a
certain base figure. The pearls are first grouped according to quality
and size, and a figure is agreed upon as the multiplicator of each
class. In Germany the carat is employed as the weight-unit for pearls
as well as for diamonds, and in this new system the total weight of a
given number of pearls of the same class is first reduced to grains ;
the number of grains is then multiplied by four and the quotient is
multiplied by the figure agreed upon. The resulting sum, after being
divided by the number of pearls, gives the carat value of such pearls.
For example, if the base figure agreed upon is 5, and we wish to find
the carat worth of 4 pearls of similar size, weighing together 3-14/64
carats, the sum would be as follows :
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At
this rate per carat, reckoning in marks, the value of the 3-14/64
carats would be 207.20 marks. This result is identical with that
obtained by the ordinary method, but the calculation is perhaps a
trifle simplified.1
1 See "Edelsteinkunde," Wilhelm Rau, Leipzig, 1907, p. 137·
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