gems, gems general, diamond, corundum, Montana.12, USA.12

An annual review of the United States gem and precious-stone industry for 1918, a year in which domestic production fell to $106,523, the lowest value since 1881 except for 1896. Schaller attributes the decline chiefly to wartime military service, labor shortages, and poor market conditions. Corundum, quartz, tourmaline, and turquoise accounted for 79% of total production, with Montana leading through sapphire, followed by Nevada, California, and Arizona. Notable occurrences include several hundred carats of Arkansas diamonds, among them a 17.85-carat canary-colored octahedron and an 11-carat clear stone; gem garnet from New York City; peridot from decomposed Hawaiian lava; and a diamond from Cherokee Flat, California. Foreign notes discuss large South African diamonds, wartime changes in the international diamond trade and cutting industry, and agate and amethyst from Uruguay. The report also provides import and export statistics and concludes with an unusually detailed discussion of industrial uses of gem minerals, including diamond, garnet, Iceland spar, optical fluorite, rock crystal, sapphire, topaz, and tourmaline.