Sable skins of the finest quality are worth at retail price in London from 70 to 100 apiece. And even more may be given if the customer desires the furrier to exercise the right, in accordance with trade custom, of paying ten per cent above market rates in order to ransack not only his own stocks, but all the skins in London, so that he may choose the darkest colour in which it is possible to match the number of skins needed. And the small size of the skins greatly increases the cost of a garment.

A sable coat collar is often priced at from 200 to £250; a large muff formed of eight skins, each skin worth £70, will fetch £560; a long coat of average Russian sable is worth from 1,500; and one made of specially fine skins may cost 3,000. Sable coats made in Russia are often of historic value, especially what are known as " shubes," the long, large coats that are worn for sledge journeys.

One of these, made of black sable, was presented to an English peer by a former Emperor of Russia, and has been handed down as an heirloom in that nobleman's family. This cloak is of dark blue cloth lined with sable, and a piece of the same fur a quarter of a yard deep borders the edge of this costly mantle.

There are, of course, cheaper kinds of sable, such as the Hudson Bay variety, obtained from the Canadian market. This fur is also thick and soft, and its colour is warm brown, with a yellowish tinge at the side, and a

Dre88 darker tint along the back. The skins range from 15 up to 40, which latter is about half the price of the best Russian sable. Then come the lighter Russian sables, that are artificially " shaded " or topped, and which cost from £4 a skin upwards; and even cheaper are the Kolinski sables, which by nature are bright yellow, but are dyed to resemble Russian sables in colour. For about 80 to 100 a short coat or cape of " shaded " sable may be obtained.

This, although it cannot vie with one made of skins worth £80 apiece, yet looks almost as well as medium quality Russian skins priced at 30 each, and, on the whole, better than the light Russian sables sold in their natural colour at £8 or 10 apiece.

A first-rate authority declares that the price of the best Russian sable has risen at least 75 per cent. during the last few years; and it bids fair to go higher, as the supply seems to fall short of the demand. In a luxurious age, sable has become a necessity.