Insight

A E Farn writes:

..........it has been mooted among people in the jewelry trade that there are two kinds of gemologists. The one, shall we say, the front-line troops who absorb the assaults of the gem-querying customer. The other, the support troops, who furnish the ammunition to them in the guise of theoretical and practical explanations. It is said that the late Harry Truman, when President of the United States of America, had on his desk a notice which indicated ‘the buck stops here.’ Likewise, we in the laboratory of the London Chamber of Commerce feel the same way about jewelry tests. Provided the item is jewelry in the broad sense—we should be able to furnish the answer. We are not magic, we are almost human, we have certain skills which predominate and between the useful combination of experience, skill, training, aptitude, comparison stones, notes, books and stored-up knowledge, we come to a decision on most items..........