THE ROMANCE Of PRECIOUS STONES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 66

THE ROMANCE Of PRECIOUS STONES.

(English Illustrated Magazine.) The diamond has more romance attached to it than any other stone, although, curiou&ly enough, it is not the most A'aluable. ... At least 70 diamonds are in existence which haA^e a long romantic h'sfcory Avell knoAvn to experts. Indeed, the career of a great diamond can scarcely be kept a secret. The biggest diamond in the Avorld is the Brciganza, -which Aveighs 1680 carats in the rough, and is the size of a goose's egg. It Avas found in Brazil, and is iioav guarded in the Portugese Treasury so safely that no expert has baen able to examine it thoroughly. But by far the finest and certainly the most famous diamonds in the Avorld have come from India, especially from the trea-sure-chest of the Great Mogul, Avhose house ruled the vast territory of Delhi and Agra, Avhich Aye took Trom him. The gem of the Great Mogul's collection was the stone named after him. Its fate is vow Avrapped in mystery, for it has either disappeared or been spirited into another form. Found in the Gani mine (Hyderabad) in the early years . of the seventeenth century, it weighed 787^ carats. Tavernier, the graat French jeAveller and traveller, examined it at the Court of Aurimgzeb in 1665. From that date its career is a mystery. Various theories exist as to its fate. Some people think it Avas carried off by the Persians at the sack of Delhi in 1739, and is noAV among the Shah's jeAvels. Others believe that it is really the Koh-i-Nur ; Avhile a thirci set of theorists recognise it in the famous Orloff diamond noAV in the Russian sceptre. The Persians avlio carried it off probably cleaved it into tAvo or more stones so as to avoid detection. The Koh-1-Nur, which iioav weighs 102£ carats, has a history traceable from the year 1526, Avhile tradition gives it a career of 5000 years. . . . The Orloff diamond, which is the chief ornament in the Imperial sceptre of the Czar, is the biggest diamond in Europe, Aveighing 193 carats. It, too, belonged to the Great Mogul, and formed the eye of an idol in Seringham, an island in the River Cavery, near Trinchinopoly. . . . The Hope diamond is a blue colour, and has had a tortuous history. Bought by Tavernier in India in 1642, it Avas sold to Louis XIV in 1668, and was seized with the rest of the French regalia in 1792, and deposited in the Garde Meuble and stolen Avitbin a month. Nobody knows Avhat became of it, but in 1830 a similar stone, weighing 44^ carats (the Regent; in its late stage's had Aveigaed 67^ carats), came into the possession of Henry Thomas Hope, AA'ho bought the stone for £18,000. Hope Avas a member of an old Scotch family that had made a fortune as merchants in Amsterdam — hence the fine collection of Dutch pictures Avhich. Lord Francis Hope recently sold. The stone which Hope bought is believed to haA r e been the famous Regent, iLe rest of it having, probably, gone to form what is known as the BrunsAvick blue diamond, Avhich Aveighs 12 carats. Lord Francis inherited the diamond from his maternal grandmother, Avho left him, among other things, the beautiful estate of Deepdene, noAV tenanted by Lord William Beresford. Lord Francis was born a Pelham-Clinton, but on attaining his majority in 1887 he assumed, by royal license, the additional name of Hope. He may yet succeed his brother as Duke of NeAvcastle. One of the largest diamonds found in the New World Avas picked up by a negress in the province of Minas-Geraes, Brazil, in 1883. Her master, Avho released her in consequence, sold it for £3000. It was ultimately bought 30 years ago by the Gaikwar of Baroda, who Avas afterwards deposed by our Government. The stone is knoAvn as the Star of the South, and weighs 254 carats. ■ A stone knoAvn as the Regent of Portugal Avas found in the same mines by a negro in 1775. It is worth 396,800 guineas.