Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . Fig. 48.—The Grand-diike of Tuscany. of an Afghan chief by an Armenian merchantnamed Schafnass, who kept it for twelve years, and CELEBRATED DIAMONDS. 105 then sent it by his brother to Amsterdam, where,after a long negotiation, it was bought by Russiafor $334,800 and a patent of nobility. Russia possesses also a superb diamond, the PolarStar, cut as a brilliant, and weighing 40 carats. Itbelongs to the Princess YoussoupofF. Fig 47. The finest diamond owned by Austria is theGrand-duke of Tuscany. It is a little yellow, andis cut to r
Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . Fig. 48.—The Grand-diike of Tuscany. of an Afghan chief by an Armenian merchantnamed Schafnass, who kept it for twelve years, and CELEBRATED DIAMONDS. 105 then sent it by his brother to Amsterdam, where,after a long negotiation, it was bought by Russiafor $334,800 and a patent of nobility. Russia possesses also a superb diamond, the PolarStar, cut as a brilliant, and weighing 40 carats. Itbelongs to the Princess YoussoupofF. Fig 47. The finest diamond owned by Austria is theGrand-duke of Tuscany. It is a little yellow, andis cut to represent a star of nine rays. Fig. 48. This diamond belonged to Charles the Bold, wholost it at the battle of Granson. Found by asoldier, it was sold by a Genoese merchant to Ludo-vic Sforza, duke of Milan. It became afterwardsthe property of Pope Julius IL, who presented it tothe Emperor of Austria. It weighs 1393^ Fig. 49.—The Pasha of Egypt. Egypt possesses a very beautiful brilliant of 40carats, which bears the name of the Pasha ofEgypt It cost $136,200. In Holland there is a diamond ot 36 carats, esti- I06 PRECIOUS STONES. mated at $48,360 ; and one in the treasury ofDresden that weighs 31J^ carats. A black diamond was sold by M. Bapst to LouisXVIII. for the sum of $44^4, but it was never de-livered. Its colour was a very dark brown, and ithad a remarkable lustre.
Size: 1601px × 1560px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectgems, booksubjectprec
