'252 



SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



sapphire-blue colour — an extremely rare tint in diamonds — but also by a brilliant lustre 

 and fine play of colours. Its existence has been known of since 1830, and it at one time 

 formed part of the famous collection of precious stones of Henry Philip Hope, who bought 

 it for ^18,000. It is a perfect brilliant weighing 44J carats. 



A beautiful blue, triangular brilliant of 67tV carats, and valued in 1791 at 3,000,000 

 francs, was preserved among the French crown jewels up to the year 1792, when it was 

 stolen, together with the " Regent " and others. It had been cut from a rough stone,, 

 weighing llSfV carats, brought from India by Tavernier for Louis XIV. There are 

 substantial grounds for the suggestion that when this brilliant was stolen it was divided, 

 and the portions re-cut and placed on the market about 1830 in a new form. It is very 

 possible that the " Hope Blue" diamond is one of these portions ; another being a stone of 

 13| carats of the same blue colour, and formerly in the possession of Duke Karl of 

 Brunswick, who sold it in 1874- in Geneva for 17,000 francs ; the third portion may be 

 identical with a stone of 1^ carats of the same colour, once bought for ^"300 and now 

 in the possession of an English family. 



The Dresden Green diamond, preserved in the " Green Vaults " of Dresden, is the 

 most famous representative of stones of this colour. It is of a very fine clear apple-green,, 

 intermediate between the colour of emerald and chrysoprase, perfectly transparent and 

 faultless in every way. It is almond-shaped in form, being l^i^^ inches long and f inch thick,, 

 and weighs 40 carats, not, as is sometimes stated, 31J or 48 carats. Since 1743 it has been 

 the property of the Saxon crown, and 60,000 thalers is said to have been paid for it by 

 August the Strong. 



Very few diamonds famous for their size have come from Brazil, the only important 

 exceptions being two stones found, in the 'fifties of the nineteenth century, in the district, 

 of Bagagem, in the western part of Minas Geraes, both of which were acquired by the 

 Gaikwar of Baroda, a purchase which would seem to indicate that India can no longer 

 satisfy the taste of her native princes for gorgeous jewels. 



The Star of the South, found at the end of July 1853, is one of these two famous 

 Brazilian diamonds. The rough stone, which was examined by the French mineralogist,. 



Fig. 48. " Star of the South." Two views of the rough stone. (Natural size.) 



Dufrenoy, was described as being an irregular rhombic dodecahedron with convex faces 

 (Fig. 48), and as weighing 254J carats. The stone showed in a few places small octahedral 

 impressions of other diamonds, as if the larger diamond had once formed one of a group of 

 crystals ; in other places the octahedral cleavage was discernible. A few small black plates 

 enclosed in the stone have been considered to be ilmenite (titaniferous iron ore), since this, 

 mineral has been shown to occur as an enclosure in diamond. The rough stone fetched 

 430 contos de reis, about ^£"40,000. It was cut in Amsterdam, and produced a beautiful 

 pure brilliant of 125 carats (Plate XI., Figs. 9a, 9b, 9c), which was bought by the Gaikwar 

 of Baroda for ,£80,000. 



Mr. E. Dresden's diamond was found at the same place as the last-mentioned 



