Page:A treatise on diamonds and precious stones including their history Natural and commercial.djvu/63

 merchants have adopted a very delicate and highly honorable method of offering polished Diamonds for sale—they employ confidential men, to take: brilliants of various qualities, in separate lots, to the trade; their weight and price are generally marked on the paper in which they are folded. If a particular parcel is found desirable, but thought to be charged too high, an offer a little lower may be made: in which case the intended purchaser is allowed to affix his seal upon the lot, until the principal is made. acquainted; then, if the terms are not approved, the employee returns with them, and requests the seal to be broken. Thus, during the negotiation, which often continues several days, thelot cannot be exhibited or hacknied through the trade.