290 JEWELLERS. 



CHAP. XXVI. 



It must then be the interest of those jewellers 

 whose capitals are sufficiently large to enable them 

 to buy their gold with ready money to purchase 

 standard rather than fine gold, with the exception 

 of what is required for such delicate parts of the 

 work as can only be executed with fine gold. 



In conversing with some of the largest manu- 

 facturers of jewellery whose trade consisted chiefly 

 in making what are called heavy articles, such as 

 mourning and wedding rings, snuff-boxes, chains, 

 plain bracelets, and similar ornaments, it was 

 ascertained that they used no refined gold. Two 

 houses especially, whose use of gold weekly ex- 

 ceeds one hundred ounces, asserted that they 

 never purchased any refined gold, but bought old 

 English light guineas and sovereigns, or foreign 

 coin by weight, and lowered the quality to the 

 degree of fineness most applicable to the particular 

 objects for which they were designed. Another 

 informant, who paid the highest amount of duty 

 at Goldsmith's Hall, affirmed that he purchased 

 no refiner's gold ; and another, whose trade con- 

 sisted in making the more delicate as well as 

 the heavy articles, stated that, " on taking an 

 account of the various qualities of gold used in 

 their manufactory during the last four years, it 

 was found that the proportion of fine gold was 

 nearly six-tenths, and of standard gold, consisting 

 of light guineas, ports, and doubloons, four- 

 tenths." 



