having expressed himself as follows, concerning artificial precious stones:
Between
the natural and the artificial precious stones, the material difference
will always exist, that one is a natural, the other an artificial
product. Up to the present time, I have not seen a single artificial precious stone that could not be recognised as such. The
claim that the artificial stones are not to be distinguished from the
natural gems, that they are absolutely free from defects, etc.,
according to my experience, is not justifiable. Even if it is
possible to produce precious stones having the same crystallographic,
physical, and chemical properties as the natural gems, they are
nevertheless not equal in value to the natural product. No more
so than an ever so carefully executed and deceptively similar copy of a
work of art, a painting, a piece of sculpture, etc., can be called the
original. The artificial products, made in the laboratory, are not
formed under the same conditions as the natural article, and for this
reason we may rest assured that, even should the present scientific
methods of distinguishing the genuine from the artificial precious
stones fail, further scientific investigation will reveal a method that
will make the distinction possible. Interesting as may be the success
thus far attained in the production of artificial precious stones, and
while we may congratulate ourselves on the progress made in chemical
technics in this direction, to the connoisseur, these articles will always be artificial products that can never deprive the natural stones
