PART FOUR
The Techniques
and Care of Jewels
CHAPTER 13
The Techniques of Gems
I have been using the terminology of the field of gems and jewelry, taking it for granted that the meanings would be understood. Perhaps it is time to make these terms more precise.
Definitions
A jewel, or a piece of jewelry, is a costly ornament, especially of gold, platinum, or precious stones; or of stones set in one of these metals.
A precious stone is one highly prized for human adornment. Its value is measured mainly by its beauty, its rarity, and its durability. The precious stones are, by general understanding, limited to the diamond, the ruby, the emerald, and the sapphire. The pearl, though strictly not a stone and far less durable, is nevertheless, because of its beauty and the rarity of superb specimens, included among the precious gems.
A gem is a precious stone of rare quality, especially when cut and polished. All other stones used in jewelry are semiprecious.
Light on the Stones
Stones may be characterized according to their response to light. Lustrous stones are those which catch the light brilliantly and glow almost as though with an inner flame. The cutting of the gem may aid in this effect, as with the diamond. Vitreous stones are of the glassy type, not lustrous. These may be transparent, permitting one to see objects clearly through the stone, like a fine crystal; or they may be translucent, permitting one to see light and shadow but not distinct objects through the stone. When light falls upon such translucent stones as moss agate, moonstone and agate, there is a soft glow.
Or stones may be opaque, permitting no passage of light, like the turquoise. Because of their crystalline structure, even the opaque stones, however, may respond glowingly to light. Sometimes when the stone was formed, tiny cracks or bubbles stayed between the crystals. As the stone is moved, these cracks cause a play of prismatic colors which seems almost the sparking of an inner fire. To the names of such stones the term fire is prefixed; they are extremely rare and beautiful. The Empress Josephine had a fire opal so remarkably aflame that she called it “The Burning of Troy.”
Star Gems
Another variation from regularity, which can scarcely be called an imperfection or a flaw, enhances the beauty and the value of a precious stone. A certain break or tiny space in the crystalline structure may produce a radiation of three lines crossing at a single point, giving the effect of a six-pointed star. The star ruby and the star sapphire are among the most highly prized of all gems.
The Pearl
The pearl has been described as “a disease of the oyster.” A tiny foreign object, such as a grain of sand or a chip off the inside of the shell (this inside is called nacre or mother-of-pearl) becomes imbedded in the oyster itself; it is, of course, an irritant. Drawing upon its natural resources but unable to expel the foreigner, the oyster protects itself by isolating the intruder, building around the speck a thin layer of an iridescent fluid, similar to that which lines the oyster shell. This fluid hardens, layer after layer. Given proper time—about four or five years—and the proper species of oyster—not the kind commonly used for food—and a pearl is born.
A cultured pearl differs from an imitation pearl much as a synthetic differs from a paste stone. A cultured pearl is naturally developed by an oyster which has been artificially inseminated. Man starts the process, the oyster carries it through. About 1920 an ingenious Japanese inserted a tiny bead of mother-of-pearl into an oyster; the result was the first cultured pearl. Since the oyster is first captured, then inoculated, then released under controlled conditions, the processes of production can be kept less haphazard, the time speeded and the quantity increased. As with synthetic gems, however, there are tiny indications, in structure, in lustrousness, by which the cultured may be distinguished from the native pearl.
Cutting the Stones
I have mentioned that the cutting may help to bring out the brilliance of a stone. There are two main types of cutting: the cabochon, used from earliest times; and the faceting, used increasingly over the past four centuries. Each is still valued for particular stones and purposes.
Cabochon
A stone cabochon cut is cut in a smooth upward (convex) curve, like the arc of a circle or an ellipse. Most frequent is the medium cut, a smooth oval with the under surface flat. The steep cut produces a dome-like effect, as of a small haystack or high mound. In the hollow cut, the upper surface is convex and the lower surface is concave, the effect being that of a small bar curving upward. The fourth commonly used cabochon cut is the double cut, the upper surface curving up and the lower surface curving down, like a tiny elongated football. Which of these cuts is used depends partly upon the jewel for which the stone is intended, but mainly upon the original shape and coloring of the stone.
Facets
Transparent and translucent stones which seem to have radiance are usually made more beautiful by faceting. A facet is a small, smooth face or plane surface; a number of these are cut upon a gem.
In most facet-cut gems five regions can be distinguished. The table—the top of the stone—is usually flat, though it may be slightly domed; it is usually the largest of the facets, though the size may vary according to the stone and the type of cut. The bezel is the slope from the top, consisting of slanted, smooth faces that may proceed in various planes or by ninety-degree “steps” down to the girdle. The girdle is the widest part, the “equator,” of the cut stone; it is here that the setting is usually attached. The pavilion is the part that slants down from the girdle to the culet, which is the bottom point of the stone. Sometimes the stone is slightly truncate; that is, it is cut to a small flat surface, instead of a point, at the culet. More generally, the part of the stone above the girdle is the crown; the part below the base.
Types of Faceting
There are many patterns of faceting. Six are fairly common.
1. Brilliant. This is used especially for large diamonds, which are then often called brilliants. The gem is cut as though two pyramids with sixteen-sided bases were placed base against base, the points at opposite ends. The upper point is truncated, to form the table. Brilliant-cut gems usually have 58 facets, 33 above the girdle, 25 below. For the sake of the superb light effects achieved by this cut, there is often sacrificed a considerable portion of the original stone.
2. Rose. This may be used for smaller diamonds and other gems. The rose cut is circular, with the table slightly domed. It is flat underneath. The part above the girdle is usually cut into 24 equal facets.
3. Square. This cut, as its name indicates, provides a square table. The facets are cut parallel to the girdle, both above it and below. Since they will thus seem to be proceeding downward in a succession of steps, this is also called the step cut.
4. Emerald. The emerald cut may have either a square or an oblong table. The corners, instead of being pointed and at right angles as in the square cut, are cut off and faceted. As the name implies, this is a frequent cut for the emerald, but the topaz, amethyst, aquamarine, and other stones—even the diamond—may be square cut or emerald cut.
5. Marquise. The marquise cut is somewhat like an oval, but pointed at the ends: boat-shaped. It is sometimes called navette.
6. Pear-shape. This very fancy shape is cut like a marquise but with one side rounded out, giving a tear or drop-like appearance. It lends itself very well to free-hanging parts on necklaces and earclips. This cut is growing in popularity for an engagement ring.
There are many other possibilities of special faceting and fancy cuts. Stones may be cut in the shape of a kite, a keystone, a lozenge, a triangle, a half-moon or other figure. Popular among special shapes is the baguette, “little stick,” in which the stone is cut to resemble a small rod.
Increasingly in recent years, especially as a sentimental souvenir and even more in the new engagement rings, diamonds are being cut heart-shaped. This is a difficult and a costly pattern to produce since not every diamond lends itself to be cut into heart shape.
Facet cuts have come to be far more frequent than cabochon. Cabochon, usually in a medium cut, is still used for star rubies and star sapphires, as its smooth surface most lavishly displays the radiance of the star. Also, the moving band of light in the cat’s-eye and the reflection in the moonstone are at their best in cabochon. When the color in a ruby, garnet, or sapphire is beautifully deep, the curve of the cabochon takes fullest advantage of that depth and richness. Cabochon cut is also used for most opaque stones, as the opal, the turquoise, and the jade. The baguette cut is most often used around a ring, or as a frame for larger stones. Each cut has its separate beauty, and is designed to bring out the richest qualities of its gem.
Hardness of the Stones
One reason for the pre-eminence of the diamond is its indestructibility. It is by far the hardest of all stones. Setting the standard of the diamond at ten, a table has been made of descending hardness. The whole numbers on this scale are marked as follows:
| 10 | diamond |
| 9 | corundum |
| 8 | topaz |
| 7 | quartz |
| 6 | feldspar |
| 5 | apatite |
| 4 | fluorspar |
| 3 | calcite |
| 2 | gypsum |
| 1 | talc |
It is at once obvious that few of these are precious, or even semi-precious, stones. What must be noted is that this list is not a proportionate scale; that is, it indicates order, but by no means any specific degree of hardness. The difference in hardness between the diamond and its neighbor, corundum, is greater than that between corundum and talc. The best that can be said is that, as they are arranged, each one can scratch all those listed below it.
Thus there is no other stone that can scratch a diamond. The old saying “diamond cut diamond” means that two champions are evenly matched, and diamonds can be cut and polished only in this fashion. A wheel of corundum or other substance is coated with diamond dust; when this is applied to a diamond stone, an equal process of attrition takes place; diamond dust is worn off both the wheel and the stone. This dust, of course, may be used for further cutting and polishing to make the finished stone.
The cutting referred to here is the shaping of the facets and the surfaces of the stone; for most crystalline formations, however hard, are brittle; that is, they may be split or cleaved along the lines of the crystal edge. This accounts for both the possibility and the danger of cleaving the raw diamond. Formed under tremendous pressure beneath the surface of the earth, a diamond may be distorted in its growth; it may be an unshapely and often a fairly large stone, which must be cleft to a proper shape and size for setting. This cleaving, effected by a single hammer tap, is made only after minute examination and re-examination—sometimes a year’s pondering—by an anxious expert. After this cleavage, a diamond will be much smaller than when it was mined, but it counterbalances the loss of size by the greater brilliance and beauty the new shape discloses. The Kohinoor diamond was over 700 carats when it was found; when cut it was no more than 186⅙ carats; and since then it was recut, as a brilliant, to its present weight of 106⅙ carats. Sculpture has been defined as the process of removing the excess from the marble statue already within the block; how much more this is true of the precious stone, which the lapidary releases from its dull confinement!
Diamond dust, black diamonds, and hard metals may be used to shape, engrave and polish the other stones. A list of some of the stones frequently used in ornaments and jewels would rank them, for hardness, in the following order:
Qualities of a Stone
The qualities that determine the value of a stone are difficult to specify. Hardness, size, weight and shape are obvious elements. Lustre and the powers of reflecting and refracting light clearly contribute to the value. The manner in which a stone is cut may add to its value, either because of the light effects or because of the interesting shape. One might expect perfection, freedom from flaw, to be important, and indeed in the diamond this is so. The most common flaw in the diamond, by the way, is not a crack but a speck or tiny specks of carbon remaining between the crystals, the diamond being a crystallized form of carbon. In other stones—as we have observed of the star ruby, the star sapphire and the cat’s eye—a physical flaw may result in a greater aesthetic desirability. Other special features may enhance the value of a particular stone; a recently discovered ruby is the only known example of a double star, with not six but twelve rays. The history and associations of a gem or jewel, dramatic or sentimental, storied or personal, may be what makes its possession desirable.
Measurement
One seldom speaks of the size of a precious stone; other things being equal, its value is estimated by its weight. The unit of weight, in measuring precious stones, is the carat. As the word carat comes from the Arabic, meaning the nut or bean of the carob tree, it was evidently in olden times a rather imprecise measure. It has now been made definite as two-tenths of a gram (1c. = 0.2 gr.). It takes 141¾ carats to make an ounce, and therefore 2,268 carats to make a pound. Smaller diamonds are measured by points; one hundred points equal one carat.
The pearl is usually measured by the grain; a grain equals ¼ of a carat, or one twentieth of a gram (0.05 gr.). (This grain is not to be confused with the grain that is the smallest unit in the English system of weight.) Any pearl which is less than one quarter of a grain is called a seed pearl; an ounce of these may contain as many as 7,000 to 9,000 pearls. They are used in embroidery, in weaving cloth, and for many-stranded chains.
The Precious Metals
The purity of gold is also measured in carats; in the United States, to distinguish the two systems, the gold weight is spelled with a k: karat. Pure gold is spoken of, arbitrarily, as being 24 karat gold. Pure gold, however, is too soft for most uses, especially in jewelry; it is therefore mixed with a harder metal; the mixture, and the less valuable metal used in the mixture, are both called the alloy. The number of karats of gold indicated is the proportion of pure gold in the alloy. Thus, 18 karat gold means 18 parts of pure gold mixed with 6 parts of alloy.
Alloys
The alloy is usually formed by fusing metals together; when molten they dissolve in each other and form an intimate union, often (as in industrial uses) producing a new metal with qualities quite different from those of the separate elements of the mixture. The admixture of nickel or zinc with gold produces what is called white gold; an alloy of copper or brass is red gold, ranging in color from pink to deep rose; an alloy of silver is green gold. In addition to gold—mainly 20, 18, and 14 karat gold—pure (sterling) silver, platinum and, more recently, palladium are also effectively employed for jewels, alone or as background in which to set precious stones. Other precious metals occasionally used in the making of jewels are iridium, rhodium and ruthenium. The favorites, however, continue to be platinum and gold.
CHAPTER 14
The Care of Jewels
How to Care For Jewels
There are many misconceptions as to the care and the cleaning of jewels. And there is but one sound rule. When jewelry needs to be cleaned, take it to the jeweler.
A woman who takes her jewels to a jeweler, to have him clean them, is showing that she regards him as her regular dealer; as such, he will be happy to clean them without charge. At the same time, he will check the settings, the clasps, the safety catches. While home cleaning might damage a stone, or loosen it in its setting, professional work restores the jewel so that it is both cleaner and more secure than before.
Home Care
There is one way in which a woman can help to keep her jewelry clean. Every time that a jewel is worn, it should be wiped with clean tissue paper, or chamois leather, before being put away. (Facial tissue should not be used, as it will leave a fuzz.) Such a gentle wiping will remove the grease of finger-marks, and other marks or specks.
Cleaning Don’ts
In general, it is inadvisable to use a brush for cleaning jewelry, as it tends to loosen the stones. Eventually—not while being cleaned, but during an otherwise pleasant evening—a stone may fall from the setting.
Ammonia, soap, and other cleaning agents are likely to leave a film. This may be imperceptible; a woman may think she has “cleaned it all off”; and yet it may greatly lessen the brilliance of the stone.
Soaking in boiling water—with or without chemicals—is dangerous. Some alloys as well as some stones cannot stand such treatment. Likewise sudden heat, or sudden cooling, may seriously damage certain stones; some may even crack, or break. Most delicate are the emerald, the peridot, the aquamarine, and the turquoise.
The turquoise especially should not come into contact with fatty or oily substances. It is porous, and such substances are likely to change its color, or to make it dull.
In every case, when she is tempted to apply home cleaning to her jewels, a woman should remember that the jeweler is equipped with steam blowers and other modern devices, each for its particular type of stone, and he is glad to be called upon to give his expert knowledge and gentle care.
Pearls
Perhaps most care is required in the handling of the pearl. Boiling, for example, is almost sure to loosen any pearls in a jewel. All chemicals are to be avoided.
For casual cleaning, a pearl necklace may be wiped with a clean and slightly damp cloth. It should not be pulled; the best way is to roll it on a towel.
If the necklace becomes too wet, the string may become loosened. A pearl necklace, indeed, should be regularly restrung; there is little sense in waiting until it breaks. When the knots near the clasp of the necklace have become grey, restringing time has come.
One must be careful not to put perfume, or any liquid containing alcohol, on, or close to, pearls. They may lose their lustre, or even start to peel.
At the hairdresser’s, pearls should of course be removed before any treatment. The heat of the dryer, for example, may loosen the pearls in their settings.
Reminders
Some of the things in this chapter I have already said; this is a time for reminders. And one important reminder is that, even if the front pearls are strung without knots—and they will be more lustrous if thus close together—a few pearls on each side of the clasp should always be knotted. That is the danger spot for breaks.
Another helpful reminder is that elaborate jewels may be made with removable or convertible parts. I have discussed in detail how a very formal jewel, likely to be worn on rare occasions, may be so fashioned that, in various smaller units, it can be enjoyed more freely and frequently.
And just one more reminder—about the necklace clasp. A colored stone, such as an emerald or a ruby, may highlight a necklace of pearls. Or the clasp may be of a single pearl, encircled by marquise or baguette diamonds. But here is the place to enshrine that still precious but “grown too small” engagement ring: make the engagement diamond the chief stone in the necklace clasp. And of course something suitable must come for that empty space next to the wedding band!
More Cautioning
Several other observations will be helpful.
A small pearl clasp should never be worn in front. Instead of looking attractive, it will just look untidy.
A pearl necklace and a gold necklace should not be worn together. Each will weaken the effect of the other.
Rhinestone ornaments should be avoided when one is wearing precious jewelry. Rhinestones on dress or evening bag will cheapen the entire effect. With jewelry, all other accessories should be subdued.
The amethyst is a temperamental stone. If worn in a ring, it calls for nail polish in the purple hues. If these are unbecoming to a woman’s hands, the amethyst is not for her. This may happen when the skin pigment tends to be dark; amethysts may then make it seem sallow. But if the purple hues are becoming, there may be great beauty in the amethyst.
Modern and antique jewels—this is an emphatic reminder—should never be worn together. Modern cuts make stones so brilliant that they will overshadow the daintier antiques, and may even make them look false. The charm of the antique lies in its intricate and delicate workmanship, in the grace of its details. Beside modern pieces, these qualities are lost. Always, the one exception is the wearing of the engagement and the wedding ring; these may be worn with either modern or antique jewels.
For Travel
One of the major concerns in regard to jewelry is its protection away from home. Such questions as how to carry it, and how to insure it, call for consideration and prior care.
Insurance
All good jewelry should of course be insured, itemized piece by piece. This involves an appraisal by a recognized jewelry firm, which will register the various jewels, listing the number of stones and their weight, and indicating the current retail replacement value. There should also be a photographic record made of the jewels. This may be kept in microfilm. Most large jewelers keep a photographic record of every jewel that passes through their hands.
The appraisal of the jewels should be kept up to date. Values of stones are in a state of constant change; usually there is an increase. Once a year is not too often for a reappraisal, and the insurance broker should at once be informed of any significant changes. Such a revised evaluation is a guarantee of full compensation in the event of loss, and gives an adjustor no ground for argument as to the value of a jewel or a stone.
The inventory should include every piece of jewelry, including the less expensive items, such as might be worn every day. These are just the ones that are likely to be lost or stolen.
The Traveling Case
Since most policies cover the loss or theft of jewels at home or abroad, there is no need to leave precious jewels at home while traveling. There is, of course, no need to advertise their presence by boarding a ship or plane with a standard jewelry case carefully in hand. Much less conspicuous, as well as safer and more convenient, is a jewelry pouch carried inside the handbag.
Individual pouches can accommodate the various jewels. Long experience traveling with many jewels, both of my professional and of my personal collection, enabled me to fashion a pouch that combines practicality with good looks. This pattern has come to be widely used, and may be purchased at leading stores throughout the country.
The pouch is made of suede leather, chamois lined; it contains partitions that comfortably hold the various types of jewel: bracelets, earclips, clips, rings, necklaces, and the rest. Bracelets and necklaces, of course, should not be forced out of shape by rolling or bending, lest the stones be pressed out of their settings.
The chamois is designed to keep the jewels apart, so as not to scratch one another. Hard gems might, for instance, injure the skin of pearls. The hardest of all, the diamond, must be carefully wrapped so that it will not scratch other stones.
Should there be enough jewels in the collection to warrant more than one pouch, the lucky owner may have the suede in various colors. An emerald parure may thus be in the green pouch, while the red pouch holds the jewels that are mainly of rubies. This will not only save hunting around, but will simplify selection if the jewels are left with the purser.
It is wise, on board a liner, to check one’s jewelry with the purser, and to take out each day only the pieces that are to help one shine on that occasion. First day and last day at sea are most informal.
Registering Jewels
All jewels taken on a trip should be listed; a copy of the list should be taken, another copy should be left at home.
Some countries, such as Turkey, have rigid regulations regarding the export of jewels. In such cases—which can be indicated by the travel agent—it is well to register one’s jewelry with the customs official when entering the country. In this way, one can be sure of taking it out.
Similarly, for complete security of this sort throughout a journey, jewelry may be registered with the U.S. Customs before leaving the United States. The customs officer checks the jewelry and the list, keeps a copy and gives one, officially signed, to the traveler. In cases where this precaution was not taken, a person returning to the United States has been unable to prove that she had a certain valuable jewel before leaving the country, and has had to pay duty on it.
Such a list may be helpful in many ways. Every large port has this service available to travelers. In New York, jewels may be officially registered at the Appraiser Stores, at 201 Varick Street, where courteous attention and thoughtful advice are given to all.
Traveling Cautions
Jewelry should never be left in an untended car. Sometimes that “just a moment” away stretches to dangerous minutes.
Jewelry should never be left in checked baggage. Jewelry should not be left in the drawers of the dressing table, nor indeed anywhere in an unguarded room. Every hotel has a safe in which, without charge, guests may keep their valuables.
CHAPTER 15
Jewelry Up to Date
There are several important matters to be considered in the preservation of jewelry. Although all stones may grow temporarily dull from the accretion of dirt and grime, or even from a soapy film added by the attempt to clean them, most stones endure indefinitely. Most jewelry, however, does not, simply because it becomes old-fashioned.
The Old and the Antique
If jewels are old-fashioned for a long enough time, they may become antique. Antique jewelry has historical or traditional value and may be worn with great effect on certain occasion—it should not, of course, be mixed with jewels of other periods. There is a vast difference between something that is antique and something that is merely old. As out-of-date furniture makes a room look old-fashioned, out-of-date jewelry makes a woman look old.
The stones in these outmoded jewels are as good as ever they were. Indeed, they have quite possibly grown more valuable through the years. Not only are they as beautiful as when first worn but they are enhanced by the years of sentiment which have cast their special aura around them. It is the piece as a whole, the design that frames the stone, that has become old-fashioned. The obvious thing to do is to have it remodelled.
Old Jewelry with New Possibilities
The immediate problem with regard to remodelling is the man. A husband may be loving and generous, but in proportion as he is, he is likely also to be sentimental. Few men recognize, or at least admit, the fact that man is the sentimental sex. A husband may occasionally ask his wife why she is not wearing a jewel he gave her years ago. He would of course resent her telling him she no longer cared for it. And he would probably be a little bewildered and resentful if she told him bluntly that it is out-of-date. A simple process of education might make him see how the old one can again be made part of the currently usable treasures.
The fact that the jewel is not disregarded but is cherished as a sign of the bond of love that led to its purchase should please any husband. But no man wants his loved one to look older than necessary, any more than he would not want her wearing knee-length skirts when all around the skirts come half a foot closer to the ground.
When the jewel was first chosen, although the design was doubtless appropriate to the times, the basic consideration was the beauty of the gems, their intrinsic value, and what they could do to beautify the woman for whom they were selected. These things have not changed. Nor has the woman’s love for them, nor—we have assumed—her love for the donor. But the brightness of the design has faded. Remodelling with a fresh design will put a new jewel in the ear and a new sparkle in the eye. The old sentiment will be refurbished, the old love will gleam anew.
The Contemporary Jewels
It is surprising how, though the stones themselves remain unchanged, remodelling can create an entirely new jewel. Many an old-fashioned piece now in a safety vault, sheltered from all but the dust of time, can be given a beautiful modern setting and restored to an active place in one’s evenings. Modern design not only can give the precious stones a new styling, but can bring out their beauty as it never shone before.
Even the solitaire diamond, simplest of jewels and seemingly most constant in fashion, can be given a helpful face-lifting. Higher settings have been devised which permit the light to radiate more fully from all angles of the facet surfaces. The powers of reflection of which we know more now than in former years are thus used in additional interplays of light.
Modern Movement
A piece of jewelry made some years ago is likely to be symmetrical. This type of design contains a quiet beauty. The great classical statues are symmetrical; that is, if a vertical line is drawn down from the middle of the forehead, the body will be equally distributed on each side; an arm thrust forward is balanced by a leg held back. Thus all is in equipoise, calm and quiet.
But the modern figure in marble, bronze or other material, by some subtle shifting of the balance will be out of equilibrium. The sculptor Rodin has a great figure of John the Baptist, taking a giant stride—with both feet flat on the ground. This, some may exclaim, is an anatomical impossibility. Precisely! In Rodin’s statue, as the eye flicks from one foot to the other, the figure has taken the step! By this and other sorts of manipulation, the modern sculptor endows his figures with expectant motion.
The comparison of jewelry with sculpture is especially apt, for the three-dimensional jewelry of today presents a challenge to the sculptor. Some of the great sculptors of all times have worked with the precious metals; some of the jewel designers have had training with sculptors’ materials and tools. I have often been gratified that I graduated from the Vienna Academy of Arts and Crafts as a sculptor, and many of my jewels I consider examples of the sculptor’s art.
It is, then, fair to say that the jewelry of our grandmothers was conceived somewhat as a mid-nineteenth century picture, symmetrical, flat, and often stiff, whereas the jewelry of today is built out into three dimensions. There are three keynotes of modern jewelry design: height, airiness and grace of movement. Literally as well as emotionally, a modern jewel is a moving work of art.
It is naturally impossible to indicate all the designs in which jewelry can be remodelled. In considering the separate types of jewel, from earclips to brooches, I have indicated what is becoming to various personalities. Beyond this, there must be the judgment of good taste, based on the need and the jewels with which the newly fashioned one will be worn, whether of a classical, modern or neutral (such as a flower) motif. Beyond all these, it must be recognized that remodelling jewelry calls first for the imagination of the artist and then for the skill of the craftsman. The wearer or the purchaser—or both—may have ideas, but they should be put to the test through the eyes of an experienced jeweler.
The Jeweler as Artist
It is an easy matter to select a jeweler when one is purchasing something new. A woman may just window-shop along the avenue, then drift into a reliable store. She finds a jewel she likes and her husband does not object to the price.
With a remodelling project, there are many more concerns. From the purely practical point of view, the woman must be sure the jeweler is thoroughly reliable. He has to remove the gems from their setting. He must clean, count, weigh, and register them, and see that she gets the same stones back. The jeweler must be not a salesman but an experienced craftsman, able to recognize the possibilities inherent in the stone. He should be able to visualize various new settings and to decide in which of these the stone will be most favorably dressed. He should have a flair for fashion, so that the new setting, while up to the minute, does not quickly grow behind the times.
The designer should be one to whom each jewel is a new challenge. The problem must engage his enthusiasm, must make him eager to create, out of the piece of jewelry he is shown, something more beautiful and more becoming. He must look upon his task with a sense of responsibility akin to that of the old master of the guild, who gloried not in his wealth but in the competence of his craftsmen. In short, whatever the financial transactions involved, the person who is to be entrusted with the remodelling of a jewel should regard it not as a merchant but as an artist.
Varied Stones
It may be a good idea to complement the existing stones in a jewel with some extra stones of different cut. Diamonds of special or fancy cut add a modern note at once, for in previous years the use of such stones was virtually unknown. In all likelihood, the jewel will be enhanced by the addition of some baguette diamonds. This cut makes a most versatile gem. It has been incorporated into virtually every modern jewel that makes use of precious stones, for it gives the designer scope for otherwise unattainable modulations. By using stones of such fancy or varied cut, the jeweler achieves in his creation contrasts in the reflection of the light that give new play to the sparkle and new depth and beauty to the jewel.
Varied Treatment
It is by no means necessary for the woman who takes a jewel to be remodelled to think of the new piece in terms of the same sort of jewel. “Once a gentleman always a gentleman,” said Dickens, and a good thing if it were so. But it does not follow that “Once an earclip always an earclip” is an equally desirable or inevitable pattern, or that a bracelet should be condemned to endure forever as a band around the arm.
The stones from a pair of earrings may well be remodelled into the center stones of a bracelet. An old bracelet, on the other hand, may become a parure: earclips, dress or hair clip, and a ring. An old pendant may have stones that can be beautifully reset as earclips and a brooch, and countless other variations and transformations need little more than the imagination and the desire.
Remodelling of Watches
Many a bureau drawer or jewel box holds more than one discarded wrist watch. The setting may be of diamonds or other gems, but the style is passé. This jewel may be brought out and remodelled into a fresh and beautiful piece.
It should not, however, be thought of as the centerpiece in a gold bangle bracelet. Set against the stiff gold, it will not be improved, but will the more clearly proclaim that it is old-fashioned. Instead, the jeweler should consider the possibility of centering the diamond wrist watch in an important diamond and pearl bracelet. If the watch movement is still in good condition, the watch can be incorporated in the bracelet so cleverly that the functional aspect of the timepiece will be wholly subordinate to, if not lost in, the beauty of the jewel.
Adding Pearls
Pearls are perhaps the most adaptable of reformers among the gems. The addition of cultured pearls can be most helpful in restoring the beauty of an outmoded jewel. If the diamonds in the old piece are not many or not large, and a more important or imposing jewel is desired—without the purchase of new precious stones—the jeweler should be able to suggest various new designs in which the sole additions are cultured pearls.
Even the engagement ring is susceptible to flattering new treatment. The fact that the band may have grown too small provides a good occasion for remodelling. In a dome-shaped arrangement of cultured pearls the centered solitaire becomes a more significant gem, never more precious but considerably more imposing.
Infinite Riches in a Little Room
Thus the little old jewel is capable of infinite surprises. The woman who has never had one of her jewels remodelled just has to admire a new piece of one of her friends and be told it is an old one remodelled: “Remember that diamond brooch I used to wear?” Remembering the “before” and beholding the “after,” a woman’s eyes will light with a new recognition. The old jewels were, in the main, massy with metals. The new ones are graced with an airy technique of jewel design. It is no commercial slogan but experienced truth that the light modern patterns make the jewel more beautiful and the wearer more gracefully young. And the husband, who was last to yield and permit that “waste of time and money” called a remodelling, will be the first to sense the new beauty and importance of the jewel, and to extend his admiring praise. He will be touched that the old stones, with their sentimental attachment, meant enough for them still to be desired as current jewels; he will be delighted that the remodelling has brought new ornaments at the cost of merely the setting, not the stones; and by the effect on the jewel and on the wearer, he will be entranced.