Like fine natural pearls, the fine imitations should be wiped after use and carefully put away. They should also be restrung occasionally, as should real pearls both to prevent loss by the breaking of the string and because the string becomes soiled after a time, and this hurts the appearance of the jewel.
The "Roman" type of imitation will not stand much heat, as the wax core would melt and run out.
Testing Imitations of Pearls. As the making of imitations of pearls is mainly hand-work and as many treatments are required for the best imitations, fairly high prices are demanded for these better products, and the appearance and permanency warrant such prices. The best imitation pearls are really very difficult of detection except by close examination. They will not, of course, stand inspection under a high magnification.
Artificial pearls may also be detected by their incorrect specific gravity, by their incorrect degree of hardness, and in the case of the hollow pearls by making a tiny ink spot upon the surface of the "pearl" and looking at it through a lens. A reflection of the spot from the inside surface of the bead will appear beside the spot itself if the pearl is of the Roman type.
The artificial pearls so far described are high class products. Some of the very cheap and poor imitations are merely solid, or hollow, glass or enamel beads which have been made slightly pearly, either by adding various materials to the glass or enamel when it was made, or by crudely coating the beads without or within with wax containing cheap "nacre."
LESSON XXIX
THE USE OF BALANCES AND THE UNIT OF WEIGHT IN USE FOR PRECIOUS STONES
As precious stones are almost always sold by weight, and as the value at stake is frequently very great, it is almost as necessary for a gem merchant, as it is for the chemist, to have delicate balances and to keep them in good order and to use them skillfully.