A Little Respect

When Kathy and I visited London several months ago,the local currency flowed through our hands at a speed typical of tourist spending.  I must confess, however, that I paid little to the details of the Bank of England notes we were spending, otherwise I might have observed that one of the security features of the L 20 note was a vertical row of Adam Smith profiles.  And if you know of the law of supply and demand, you know a bit about Smith’s major work, ‘The Wealth of Nations’.

Born a bit more than 290 years ago near Edinburgh (in Kirkcaldy), Scotland, he published his seminal book on economics, “The Wealth of Nations”, in 1776.  And though some may argue that his appearance on the notes (March, 2007) was terribly tardy, the man’s acuity certainly demands this kind of respect.  Indeed, few, regardless of their politics, would argue with many of his observations, particularly, this one; “Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased.”  Honoring him with his likeness on banknotes, then, seems singularly appropriate.  It was, however, conspicuously difficult owing to the small amount of labor spent on capturing his likeness during his lifetime, only three images.  Fortunately, one of them had been used to produce a limited series of about 300 pieces of “glass paste” portrait medallions of him; and one such medallion (currently hanging in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery) was available to the bank’s board of governors to use.  So it is, if you pick up a L20 note, you can see, at least in silhouette, what Smith looked like - and all thanks to the jewelry business. 

Of course what we’re really dealing with here is a glass cameo; and as a medallion, it was meant to be worn as a pendant.  While many of you are familiar with shell cameos (usually carved from conch shell), stone and glass cameos have also been with us for a long time.  Those of stone are, obviously, also carved, but the use of “glass paste” to make the Smith cameo may have you wondering, so let’s take a look at it. 

“Glass paste” is, quite literally, glass that has been heated to the point of “plasticity”; and in making his portrait medallion of Smith the artist, James Tassie, literally pressed such glass into a carved mold (his original piece of art).  Since the mold had probably been carved in stone, the heat it suffered in each use surely caused

the accuracy of the image to slowly degrade, hence the limited number of pieces.  Interestingly, this confluence of art and jewelry dates back more than 4000 years.  Glass animals, amulets and so on first appear in the historical record during Egypt’s “Middle Kingdom”; and by the time Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed wealthy Romans were wearing pressed glass cameo and intaglio jewelry in colors that imitated precious gems.  Through the recovery of thousands of ancient Etruscan jewelry molds (from tombs in modern Tuscany) and a few tantalizing surviving records we know that just as Tassie had used glass paste to make his Smith medallion, ancient Etruscan jewelers pressed “pasta vitra” into their molds to make cameos and intaglios.  Obviously the ancient molds are valuable historical artifacts; but with an extra step or two (to prevent degrading them) some are still usable using the ‘lost wax’ casting process.  For the skilled artisan this technique can yield excellent, accurate castings; for the less proficient inferior results are common.  More important than technique, however, is the emotional content transmitted by these ‘exercises of jewelry.‘  The United Kingdom’s government can honor and take pride in Smith’s insights into economics through Tassie’s work; while those who own a pasta vitra intaglio created from an ancient mold can emotionally connect with antiquity.

Emotion is what jewelry is all about; so fine emotions, like the deep feelings you have for another, are beautifully expressed with a thoughtful gift of fine jewelry, particularly a diamond.  But since all diamonds are not ‘created‘ equal, you may need a little help in selecting one to ‘speak for you’; that’s where we come in.  We’re Hursts‘ Berwyn Jewelers; and we know diamonds.  We want you to be proud of the diamond you buy from us.  We want people to say to the wearer, “Let me see your diamond!”  So check us out on line at hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment.  We’ll help you select the perfect gift because we’re just not a common jeweler.  

THE INSPECTOR

When we receive any new gem or piece of jewelry from a vendor it is subjected to an exhaustive inspection.  Our quality standards are so high that on one occasion I was not particularly startled to overhear Kathleen say (speaking on the telephone), “I don’t care if it is good enough for (fill in the name of a prestigious jeweler), it’s not good enough for me!”  She was addressing faults she had found in the manufacture of a piece shipped us that made it unacceptable to us.

This sort of inspection is important to guarantee that the consumer receives the value he expects.  It has two aspects, an inspection for obvious defects in manufacture such as cracks, poor polish, flaws in gem settings and so on, and an inspection for the presence of hallmarks and trademarks.  The first may seem obvious, but jewelry retailers with little interest in anything other than price seldom seem to check the basic finished quality of the jewelry they offer.   The importance of checking for hallmarks and trademarks is a little less obvious.  Unlike most of the ‘developed world’, quality marking precious metal jewelry (stamping it ‘14K’, ‘18K’ or whatever to state its precious metal content) is optional for jewelry sold in this country.   Current U.S. metals laws allow a seller to verbally claim a precious metal content without quality marking it but they require him to trademark (state who made it) if he puts any quality mark whatsoever on it and it is shipped interstate.  Since the law is relatively vague, it is little appreciated by the buying public.   This opens the door to under karating, quality marking a piece of jewelry to overstate its gold or platinum content,  a common ‘cheat’ among those who sell ‘bargain priced jewelry.  As you might expect, cheats rarely identify their goods with a trademark, but those who buy ‘price’ goods for mass market retailers are seldom vigilant and sometimes both ignorant and trusting.  As a result, untrademarked goods are easy to find; and from time to time, those who sell them (and those who buy from them) get ‘stung’. 

A few years back a classic case erupted in California.  As it transpired, shoppers at a department store chain began to complain that their ‘14K‘ gold chains were tarnishing.  When the complaints finally became loud enough, some one of the buyers for the chain had the wit to have the gold content of the ‘14K‘ chains they were selling tested for gold content.  The test came back and the report wasn’t good.  Though the chains were marked ‘14K’ (a bit more than 58% gold), they actually tested a little less than ‘8‘ karat (33% gold, not a legal gold alloy in the U.S.).  Unsurprisingly, when department store officers went back to look for the chain manufacturer, he was ‘out of business‘; and its officers were not to be found.  A little more detective work revealed that the erstwhile chain makers had bought ‘scrap gold‘ on the open market at bargain prices, melted it down with a judicious addition of scrap brass and used this promiscuous mixture to make their chains.  As both manufacture and sales were pretty much limited to California the fraud they perpetrated was not in violation of U.S. law; and it must have been hugely profitable to the slippery fraudsters.  I don’t know, at this time, whether or not they’ve ever been arrested and prosecuted; but back when the fraud was discovered it was learned that they’d fled the country to avoid prosecution.  I’m sure they traveled first class.

Gems are quite another matter; and assessing their value is not for the uninitiated.   Usually the problem is not so much fraud as it is failure to read the fine print.  In point of fact, U.S. law is almost silent about gems; so this can leave the shopper to make his way through a dark and bewildering forest of claims and documents.  Even diamonds are not immune to misunderstanding since most consumers do not know that only a very few laboratory grading reports have consistent and reliable value; and even they have weaknesses - bringing me back to the inspector.  While internal characteristics, for example, may be cited on a laboratory report for a diamond, it may neglect to mention surface cracks.  These will affect rarity (and thus value), but if they neither affect durability nor appearance, they may not be cited on a report.  Then there are the other precious and semi-precious gems.

What do you do when a vendor ships you a ring set with an ‘amethyst’ that has a piece of purple paper behind it (to ‘enhance’ its color)?  The inspector ships it back, refuses to pay the bill and refuses to do any more business with the supplier.  The same is true when a vendor furnishes a ring with a ‘black’ opal in it that turns out to be a very white opal set against a black background.  The client must be presumed to be naive because gems are so subtle.  This makes the retailer’s inspector vital to assuring that all goods are as represented when they were first ordered to be made and before they are offered for sale.   Deceitful vendors are weeded out by the inspector and only the work of the most virtuous are offered to the client. 

We value our reputation; so when you seek enduring quality in fine jewelry you must come see us.  Check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment.  We’re Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers, not a common jeweler.