HALF-PEARLS: LOTS OF THREE DIFFERENT SIZES.
BROOCH OF HALF-PEARLS AND ONYX. UNITED STATES, 1860
The same author[[398]] gives tables expressing the values of pearls not perfectly spherical in form, which he designates as “perle dolce.” These pearls he considers to be worth half the price of good round pearls; that is to say, 2½ lire (about $.50) per carat for four weighing together one carat. Where there are as many as three thousand of these “perle dolce” in an ounce, the 2½ lire base is multiplied by 576, the number of grains given to the ounce; this makes the value of an ounce of one-grain pearls $288. This amount is then divided by 3000, and the quotient, $.096, represents the value of one carat of these small pearls. Multiplying this by 144 we obtain, as the value of an ounce of such pearls, $13.82. An ounce consisting of two thousand would be worth $20.73, while if there were but one hundred to the ounce it would be valued at $414.72, or $4.15 for each pearl and $.72 per grain of weight. In this latter case the pearls would average 5¾ grains. Another class of pearls denominated by this author as “scaramazzi,” pearls of an irregular form and with protuberances, are estimated in a similar way, but at exactly half of the above values. The baroque pearls were not considered to be worth even half as much as the “scaramazzi.”
Scotch pearls (fresh-water) are mentioned by De Boot (1609, p. 88 sq.) among the other western pearls—Bohemian, etc. He remarks that they were valued much less than the oriental pearls, but if they were of especially pure color their value was greater, although they lacked the silvery hue characteristic of the eastern pearl. Fine pearls of this sort were valued on a carat base of one fourth of a thaler ($.27), so that a forty-grain pearl was worth $27, and one of eighty grains, $108. The author of the Bologna treatise, “Delle Gemme,” 1791, attributes the lack of luster in the Scotch pearls to the presence of a dark mass in the interior which interfered with the passage of light. He estimates Scotch pearls to be worth one half the value of oriental pearls of mediocre quality, provided the former are fairly good.
A Scotch writer of the seventeenth century is more enthusiastic in regard to these pearls; he mentions having paid one hundred rix dollars for an exceptionally fine one, but he does not specify its weight. This is the value given by De Boot for a pearl of this class weighing eighty grains, as we have just mentioned. The Scotch writer asserts that he could never sell a necklace of fine Scotch pearls in Scotland itself, as every one wanted oriental pearls; he continues: “At this very day I can show some of our own Scots Pearls as fine, more hard and transparent than any Oriental. It is true that the Oriental can be easier matched, because they are all of a yellow water, yet foreigners covet Scots Pearls.”
In Ceylon[[399]] and India, pearl-grading and valuing has received close attention, and an elaborate system has been evolved by the pearl merchants. This system has been in use for generations and possibly for centuries. Although apparently very complicated, it is in reality quite simple, if we only remember that the value of inferior pearls is determined by their weight, whereas the value of superior pearls is computed from the square of their weight.
The pearls are first grouped according to the size, of which ten grades are made. This is done by passing them successively through ten brass saucer-like sieves or baskets (peddi), each about three and a half inches in diameter and one inch deep. The holes in the bottom of each sieve are of uniform size, but they are graduated in size for the different baskets. The pearls are sifted in the basket with the largest holes, and those which will not pass through are of the first size. The pearls which pass through are then sifted in the second basket, and those retained are of the second size; and so on through the entire series of ten sieves or baskets. Those which pass through the tenth sieve are known as masi-túl, or powder pearls; they are of little value owing to their very small size, and are not subject to further classification. Of course, the attached pearls or very irregular baroques—the oddumuttu—are not subject to the sifting process, and are valued independently of this.
Sometimes in India, as well as in western countries, false measures are used, and an oriental pearl merchant may have one set of sieves for use in buying and another for selling. The rule for determining the proper size of the holes in the first sieve is that they may pass pearls weighing 20 to the kalan̄chǔ, whence this sieve is commonly known as the “20 peddi.” The second sieve is the “30 peddi,” since it passes pearls weighing 30 to the kalan̄chǔ. In the proper order the other sieves respectively pass pearls requiring 50, 80, 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 to the kalan̄chǔ.
This use of sieves for grading the Ceylon pearls was mentioned by Cleandro Arnobio, a writer of the latter part of the sixteenth century, in his “Tesoro delle Gioie,” and he took his description from an older writer, Garzia dell’ Horto.
After the sifting, each of the ten graded lots of pearls are placed on pieces of cloth for classification as to quality, shape, and luster. This classification requires much skill and judgment on the part of the valuer. Not only will two persons commonly fail to class a large lot of pearls exactly alike, but one person is not likely to class the same lot twice in precisely the same manner.