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Only those who are constantly buying and selling stones for a living are able to judge market values, and then only in their capacity of manufacturer, dealer, wholesaler, or retailer, as the case may be. The mere fact that a certain stone of a definite color, size, or form of cutting is wanted for a particular purpose is alone sufficient to raise its price, when procured, by perhaps twenty per cent, but that value is seldom obtained when the stone is resold in the course of time. However, the general relative values of stones may be estimated if the goods of a first class retail jeweler be studied. If he knows his business, he should be buying his stones at the right price, and he should be selling at current values.

But it must be remembered that the mounting of a stone into an article of jewelry involves the use of precious metals, skill, and time, and these factors have to be considered when mounted stones are judged. Such factors weigh heavily in cheaper articles where small or less valuable stones are used. But in expensive jewelry, where the stones are large or of fine quality, the gems make up the bulk of the value.

It should be repeated again that values are not something which can be learned by reading. It needs long experience to judge values, and even then opinions differ to some degree. This is one of the reasons why dealers can sell and buy stones among themselves, each making a profit. But one must have the knowledge to support one’s judgment, as well as a possible market in view. ‘ The values we have given are approximate at the time of writing, yet they may serve-as some guide to those who are not familiar with the worth of gem stones.

The upheaval in 1914 also led to a depressed market, but with the trade boom that followed, prices began to rise until, in the early 1920s, new high levels were reached. World financial depression followed once more, and the recovery that set in was gradual until restrictions in trading and loss of confidence in paper currencies led to a considerable demand for all precious stones, particularly the fine and large specimens.

The prosperity of the U.S.A. had a good effect on the world’s market. This vast country bought a considerable proportion of the world’s finest stones, especially diamonds, and as the large population was able to consume a huge quantity of all kinds of stones, the general effect was to higher prices. This was so despite the fact that former consumers, such as Russia, Austria, and Italy were almost out of the market.

Red, as a color, has not been really fashionable for some years. Mining for rubies has also been rather spasmodic and generally unsuccessful. So an increase in the demand for rubies has found a scarcity of rough material, which still remains. On the other hand, sapphires do not realize the high prices of rubies, but there is always a good demand for them and their values have now reached a very high level. They are probably the most popular of the precious colored stones, blue being a favorite color in many countries.
Although the supply of gem diamonds is controlled, these stones would, in any event, have a high value owing to their many uses in modern industry. Their price is maintained according to world demand, working costs, and profits, and since 1940, values have risen enormously. There is no “normal” price level to which one may refer, but since 1936, fine large cut brilliants have appreciated considerably in price. In 1954, fine quality diamonds of one carat were realizing up to about $504 (£180) in the trade. Anything over one carat and up to two carats was worth up to $560 (£200) a carat, these prices being for modern cut, first quality stones. It must be emphasized that such stones must be loupe clean and blue white or fine white, modern cut, and well proportioned, to obtain such prices. And this refers to unmounted stones, so the price for a complete new article of jewelry which incorporates diamonds is still further increased in Britain and the United States by the purchase or sales tax.

Outstanding fine stones, being so rare, have no fixed price. Various rules for the valuation of gem stones have been devised, but owing to varying prices through current demand, these rules cannot be followed with safety. Only those in the market can judge the current value of stones. David Jeffries, in his Treatise on Diamonds and Pearls, published in 1750, laid down a formula by which diamonds could be priced, and others have, in later years, tried to produce a similar ready made guide. Sutton, an authority on diamond, gives a formula which is considered by many to give good results over a wide range of sizes, but no reliable figures can be given.

It should be mentioned again that the economic state of a country has a great influence on the price of gems. If conditions are peaceful and prosperous, there is a good and steady demand, and prices do not fluctuate greatly. For instance, during a period before the French Revolution, European courts and certain strata of society showed great extravagance, and the values of all precious stones increased. But during the Revolution and in the succeeding years, they fell again.

From 1801 to 1872, diamond regained its pre-eminence, since when the emerald has become the most expensive stone. It may be said that, in the past 150 years, the price of ruby has increased about six times its original value, sapphire fifteen times, diamond twenty-five times, and emerald thirty times, which proves that ruby must have been regarded as the most precious stone in the Eighteenth Century.

Good colored rubies of over four carats in weight, white diamonds of unusual size and brilliancy, emeralds of deep color, and large fine sapphires all realize exceptionally high prices if they are flawless. Such prices do not keep to any rule any more than does a unique picture. Actually, very fine rubies of over about five carats in weight are the rarest of all stones, and they realize up to $5,600 or £2,000 per carat, but a flawless perfect emerald is a greater rarity and therefore reaches a higher price. Both fine emeralds and rubies are now seldom found since the old mines are either closed or exhausted. The Cashmere mines which have produced the finest sapphires are also not worked.

There are some stones which have a greater value in some localities than in others. For instance, in America we have the locally mined benitoite, kunzite, hiddenite, and tourmaline, and these are more in local demand than elsewhere. Chinese jade in China, star stones in the East, and turquoise in Persia and Tibet (turquoise beads are current in Tibet as small change in the payment of taxes) all find a better price than they do elsewhere. Tourmalines were not recognized in Europe until they were found, in the year 1703, among a parcel of assorted Ceylon stones discarded by a Dutch lapidary. Yet they were used and valued in the East long before that date.

Long ago, the Persians regarded emeralds and rubies as being more precious than diamonds, and we have evidence from various writers of different ages that stones such as opal and amethyst were esteemed much more highly than they are today. Cellini recorded in the Sixteenth Century that rubies were worth eight times the price of diamonds, while today the Chinese have little use for diamond and regard fine jade as being of much more worth. The finest qualities of Chinese jade are seldom seen outside China, for the Western peoples have not been trained to recognize the different shades and qualities which make up the wide range of this stone.

Precious stones, however, always have a considerable value based on their actual rarity, and unless we all relapse into thinking only in terms of guns, airplanes, and bombs, there will always be some who both appreciate and can afford to buy these unique products of nature. As for jewel stones other than the so-called precious varieties, these fluctuate considerably in value since their supply is seldom limited. During the last few years, prices have risen appreciably. Certain varieties, such as good quality star stones, kunzites, alexandrites, and aquamarines always command good prices; others, such as garnets, amethysts, moonstones, and peridots are the victims of the whim of fashion and their values consequently vary over the years.

The only notable exception in which the unit weights mentioned are not employed is in the calculation of the weight and value of natural pearls. Here, the pearl grain is used since a smaller unit is more convenient. Pearls are generally small in size and their specific gravity is low; a ten grain pearl of fine quality is rare and obtains a high price. The unit used, the pearl grain, is exactly one quarter, or .250 of a carat. Thus four grains equal one carat.

Prices of gem stones, including the cheaper varieties, vary so much that it would be futile to try to give any guide which would be of any practical value. Fashion and demand are the chief factors which causes these fluctuations in normal times, but abnormal economic and financial conditions due to war and sudden depressions also have a considerable bearing on commercial values. In such times, when the value of paper currency and other normal forms of wealth become dubious, there is always a great demand for diamonds and other precious stones since their worth is recognized internationally and they are also easily portable.

In India, originally the source of most of the precious stones, a weight known as the rati was used. This corresponded to the weight of the black seed of the abrus precatorius, which was something between the present half a carat and seven-eighths of a carat. The weight varied very considerably in different districts and at different times; for example, in the year 1827, one rati was equivalent to 2.114 grains Troy, while in 1896 it equaled only 1.88 grains Troy. In the Golconda district, once a rich source of the finest and largest diamonds, the mangelin was used as the unit of weight. According to Tavernier, this was equal to 1.375 carats. Now, the metric carat is used throughout India, as it is in nearly all countries where important dealings in precious stones take place.

For many centuries, a carat of no very definite weight was in general use; it was not the metric carat, and it had no definite relation to any constant weight or measure. As the years passed, the number and value of stones which came on the market increased. Their use in jewelry became more general, and attempts were made to fix some recognized universal standard of weight by which values could be determined. In the year 1871, it was suggested at a representative meeting of jewelers that a carat should equal .205 of a metric gram, the gram being a convenient weight. The gram represented the exact weight of one cubic centimeter of distilled water at a temperature of 40 Centigrade, and it was a unit already in use in many branches of science.

It is remarkable, however, how many dealers in gem stones can estimate almost correct weights of given stones by eye alone. This applies particularly to brilliants. Daily practice has given them this skill in judgment, the accuracy of which is only exceeded by direct weighing. This skill is of great assistance when one is called upon to value a piece of jewelry which contains a number of various size stones.

Many of the old large diamonds have been known by their weight alone over a great many years, although a universally recognized unit was not always in use. We find various terms describing weights of gem stones in old works, and this has sometimes resulted in confusion. Perhaps the first unit of weight was the small, hard, dried seed of the locust tree, which was found throughout the East and in the Mediterranean countries. The size of this seed was fairly constant, and it was therefore something which could be used as a unit of comparison. In western Europe, the barley seed was used, and a Greek word for the shape of the pods is the derivation of the word carat.

Later, with the almost universal introduction of the metric system of weights and measures, it was realized that a carat equivalent to .200, or one-fifth, of a gram would be far more convenient, and by the year 1913, all dealers had agreed to make this the universal carat. The general adoption has obviated the awkward use of fractions of carats, such as one-eighth and one-sixty-fourth (which were formerly employed), as well as the necessity for dealers to alter the weights of parcels of stones according to the market to which their goods were being dispatched. Also calculations were much simplified when prices or average weights were being considered.

Compared with ordinary weights in common use, a carat is small. A round diamond, proportionately cut and weighing one carat, would be the size of the illustration shown. Other gem stones would be slightly larger or smaller, according to how their specific gravities compare with that of diamond. This size, and others, can be memorized by the constant examination and handling o£ stones, and it is very useful for the dealer to keep such sizes in mind for the purposes of comparison.

When the carat is not used as the unit weight, Troy weights are used in England, and the metric system of grams and kilograms (1 kilo, equals 1,000 grams) in the U.S.A. and on the Continent. But the carat is used in connection with nearly all stones. With rough stones of small value, such as opal, amethyst, and turquoise, Troy ounces are used. Rough amber is bought by the kilogram or ounce Troy, coral by the gram, while such bulky material as rock crystal is bought in the rough by the hundredweight (avoirdupois) or kilogram.
The relative weights of the carat are 1 carat equals .200 gram, or one-fifth of a gram,

or, 3.08647 grains Troy,
or, .00705478 ounces Avoirdupois

The Greeks possessed all the precious stones, except the diamond, as their jewelry proves, although the ruby, sapphire, and emerald figure as very small specimens in their relics which have been brought to light. The five great gems of the Hindus have always been the same four precious stones, with pearl, which we recognize today. In the Thirteenth Century, diamond was ranked after the pearl, ruby, emerald, and chrysolite by the Persians. It seems that, from about the years 1500 to 1800, the ruby was preferred to the diamond and consequently held first place in value. During this period, also, an over-supply of emeralds from South America depressed the market, but this stone became popular again later.

For some time previous to the Eighteenth Century, the fashion for gems waned, but after a period of neglect and vicissitude, collecting became a mania with the noble and rich of that century. Baron Stosch formed an enormous collection with the aid of Winckelmann. The Dukes of Orleans, Devonshire, and Marlborough, and the Empress Catherine II, the Empress Josephine, and even George III were among those who paid high prices for various specimens. It was about this time that good imitations and pastes became very common, and these deceptions eventually caused some loss in confidence with the public. The taste for gems again waned, and this attitude lasted for many years. But the wealth produced during the last hundred years or so has given a wider public the opportunity of possessing and wearing gero stones in an increasing range of jewelry, and there is at present no sign of any of the precious stones losing favor.