being the wholesale import figures. A single firm sells more than the. entire imports of twenty years ago.
Diamond
dust worth $464,905 has been imported since 1878, $289,430 worth from
18G8 to 1878, and in 1869 to 1871 only $228 worth ; whereas with the
opening of the Kimberley mines $80,707 worth were imported the first
year, showing what great benefit the arts received from the opening of
the African diamond mines.
In
1878 the importations of uncut diamonds amounted to $63,270; in 1887 to
$262,357 ; the total for the decade was $2,728,214, while in 1883 there
were imported $443,996 worth, showing that although we are cutting
four times as many diamonds as we were in 1878, yet the importations
have been falling off. This is partly because in the years from 1882 to
1885 a number of our jewelers opened diamond-cutting establishments,
but have either given up the business or sold out to others; for, in
spite of the protective duty of 10 per cent, on cut stones, cutting can
not be profitably carried on here on a scale large enough to enable one
of the partners to reside in London, the great market for rough
diamonds, to take advantage of every fluctuation in the market, aud
purchase large parcels which can be cut immediately and converted into
cash; . for nothing is bought and sold on a closer margin than rough
diamonds.
Diamond cutting.—The
recent death of Mr. Henry D. Morse, of Boston, known as the pioneer
diamond cutter of the United States, brings to mind many interesting
reminiscences. He has scarcely received the credit he deserved for his
work. That he was the first in this country to cut diamonds is well
known, and the best cutters in the United States to-day received their
training under him. But educating young Americans, both men and women,
to his art, was not his greatest work. He showed the world that the art
which had so long been monopolized by the Hollanders was degenerating
in their hands into a mere mechanical trade. His treatment of the
diamond has given a great stimulus 'to the industry both iu the United
States aud abroad. Shops were opened here and in Loudon in consequeuce
of his success. He was one of the few who studied the diamond
scientifically, and he taught his pupils that mathematical precision in
cutting greatly enhances the beauty and consequently the value of the
gem. His artistic eye, sound judgment, aud keen perception enabled him
to carry the art nearer to perfection than is often attained.
It
was in his shop that a machine for cutting diamonds was invented which,
did away in great measure with the tediousness and inaccuracy of the
old manual process. Thanks to his labors, we now have among us the best
cutters in the world—men who can treat the diamond as it should be
treated to develop its greatest beauty. The fact that so many fine
stones were recut here after he started his wheel led to a great
improvement abroad in cutting, especially in the French Jura and in ,
Switzerland, where both sexes are now employed at the trade; and, as a
result, the diamonds sold to-day are decidedly better than those of
