Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . for $31,620. This beau-tiful stone, without blemish or faults of any kind,weighed 133)^ carats. It formed afterwards part ofthe riches of the Museum of Natural History atParis. This museum possesses another sapphire of ex-quisite beauty and exceptional size. It is oval, andmeasures two inches by one and a half. A very beautiful star sapphire belongs to one ofthe merchant princes of New York; and in England,among the jewels of Miss Burdett Coutts, are twomagnificent sapphires estimated at $139,500. In the Hope collection—among several
Diamonds and precious stones, a popular account of gems .. . for $31,620. This beau-tiful stone, without blemish or faults of any kind,weighed 133)^ carats. It formed afterwards part ofthe riches of the Museum of Natural History atParis. This museum possesses another sapphire of ex-quisite beauty and exceptional size. It is oval, andmeasures two inches by one and a half. A very beautiful star sapphire belongs to one ofthe merchant princes of New York; and in England,among the jewels of Miss Burdett Coutts, are twomagnificent sapphires estimated at $139,500. In the Hope collection—among several fine spe-cimens of this gem—is a stone called the Mar-vellous Sapphire, which is blue by day and ame-thystine at night. This gem is said to have affordedthe foundation of one of Madame de Genlis stories. ENGRAVED SAPPHIRES. The ancients engraved the sapphire notwith-standing its extreme hardness. There is a beautiful sapphire among the crownjewels of Russia representing a female figure en-veloped in drapery. The stone is of two tints, and . ^ ^Iffllll. SIIII!^B[IHii!ll|l!llllllllll|llfilil THE TOPAZ. 127 the artist has skilfully used the dark tint for thewoman and the light tint for the drapery. Thisgem formed part of the collection of the Duke ofOrleans. The cabinet of France possesses in sapphire avery remarkable intaglio representing the EmperorPertinax. The marvel of this kind is an engraving byCneius representing the profile of a young is in the Strozzi Cabinet at Rome. THE TOPAZ. The topaz, like its kindred precious stones, isdivided into the occidental and the oriental. The oriental topaz should be in every respectcarefully distinguished, because it is the only varietywhich is composed of alumina nearly pure. Theothers contain no more than 57 or 58 parts to 100of this substance. The topaz of the moderns is the chrysolite ofthe ancients. It is a corundum coloured by aslight quantity of the oxide of iron to a beautifulgolden yellow. The topaz was originall
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectgems, booksubjectprec
