DIAMOND: VALUE 25T 



expressed by the fractions f and f . It may be remarked here that it is almost impossible 

 to classify rough stones in this way, since the qualities on which the classification depends 

 are not sufficiently obvious until the stone has been cut. 



It appears from the writings of Pliny, that among the ancients the diamond waS 

 regarded as the most costly of precious stones, and indeed of all personal possessions. 

 Such, however, is not the case at the present time, for the price of a colourless diamond 

 of good size is always exceeded by that of a ruby of the same size, and generally also by 

 that of an emerald, or even of a blue sapphire if of special beauty. This, of course, does 

 not apply to the few diamonds which possess a fine colour in addition to their other 

 beautiful qualities, the price of such stones being more or less prohibitive. 



While the relative value of diamonds of different qualities changes but little, the 

 absolute prices paid depend on a variety of conditions and are subject to considerable 

 fluctuation. 



The earliest record in existence of the price of a diamond is that made by the Arabian 

 Teifaschius, who, in the twelfth century, valued a 1 carat diamond at 2 dinar (about £6). 

 In the year 1560, Benvenuto Cellini placed the value of a beautiful stone of the same weight- 

 at 100 golden scudi, a sum which is stated by Schrauf to be equivalent to 200 Austrian 

 florins (£20), and by Boutan to 1100 francs (^£"44). This latter value is abnormally high, 

 and is probably based on an incorrect estimate of the value of the scudi. In 1609 Boetius 

 de Boot gave the value of the carat-stone at 130 ducats (about £22), while the price 

 mentioned in the anonymous work, The History of Jewels, published in London in 1672, 

 is from 4<0 to 60 crowns {£S to £12). This large fall in the value of the diamond is 

 probably to be attributed to the effects of the Thirty Years War. According to Tavernier, 

 the price of a carat-stone in 1676 was ^8, and this statement is confirmed by contemporary 

 writers both in Holland and at Hamburg. The price of rough diamonds had sunk in 1733 

 to £\ per carat, but this fall was due to the panic which followed the discovery of diamonds 

 in Brazil. In the next year the price of the carat-stone had risen to ^£"1 10s., at which it 

 stood for several years subsequently. In 1750 the famous London jeweller, David Jeffries, 

 the author of a Treatise on Diamonds and Pearls, records the value of a fine one-carat cut 

 stone at ^£"8, which is the same as the value given by Tavernier in 1676. In a work on 

 precious stones, entitled Der aufrichtige Jubelier, published at Frankfurt-on-the-Main in 

 1772, the high price of 120 thalei's (d£'18) is mentioned for a stone of the same description. 



At the time of the French Revolution prices fell very considerably, and as far as can 

 be ascertained from the valuation of the French crown jewels and from the prices fetched 

 by the many less valuable stones which changed hands at this time, it would seem that in 

 1791 a one-carat cut stone would fetch no more on an average than ,^£'6. When more 

 settled times came, however, and Napoleon's luxurious court was established, the price 

 again rose, and in 1832 ^^9 could be obtained for a one-carat brilliant, and rough stones of 

 a quality suitable for cutting fetched 42s. to 48s. or even ^£"3 per carat. Later on still, in 

 the year 1859, rough stones of the same description were worth from £4) to £5 5s. per 

 carat, while in 1860 and 1865 ^£"13 to ^18 was paid for a one-carat cut stone. 



In the year 1869, shortly before the Cape diamonds came on the market, the following 

 prices, according to Schrauf, were current : rough stones suitable for cutting, and similar to 

 those which come in large parcels from the countries in which they are mined, cost £5 per 

 carat ; parcels of stones, the larger proportion of which could be used only as bort, made 

 ^£"1 to d£'2 per carat ; while parcels containing nothing but bort were sold for 4s. to 6's. 

 per carat. The prices recorded for cut stones show the importance which was attached not 

 only to the quality of a stone but also to the form and manner in which it had been cut. 



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