, 1873-09-21
THE KNAVE OF DIAMONDS.


The collection OF diamonds begueRthod by tho
late cx-Duko Of Brunswick to the City OF Geneva
oo'nlrtAes Roino rare goms. Although cxceod-
ngy vortn hy y., 1 a 1wnen to ara n0r "ss
six yoars ago, for tho wonderful diamond yield
Of Africa consiats principally Of largo stones,
and, although no worry ilno specimens como from
worry largo diamonds, aud evon Of worry 1no
onos, during the last throo yenrs has bcen groat:
The ex-Duke WIS great diamond fancior and
a keen diamond dealor In polite ,clrclos he
wns styled the King of Diamonds 5y tho
of diamonds which he made upon his person.
In commercial circles ho waa leus aatteringly
Htyiod the Knaye Of Diamonds by tho trndesmen
who never got the bost of him h bargain IIe
bland Israelito Of Paris, tho blur IBraoito Of
London, or tho not over clean traders Of Russia
or Poland. lie was not afraid Of being cheated by
any Of them: This proficiency appe.sra somewhat
ness merely MS m nmatour; for when tho Duke
was cxpollcd from Ills Gomnions In 1880
ho yoritally stolo the heirloom diamonds
Of the dukcdom, which were no moro
tho great ruby Of England the private
property Of Queen Victoria. Having been
aeposed he did not propose to depart empty
handed, aud accordingly ho enptlod tho Brllna-
valuable papers which it contained. Doing un-
able to carry tho gold which WAS loft III tho
treasury. l,o took the crown tla.ncnlB stuffed
them about his gigantic porson, aud decampod
With his rfluder. The want Of money soon COM
policd tho spontlthriit Duke to part With aomo Of
the smaller diamonds, for it waa not until 1856
or 1886 that ho waH allowed by the now Govern-
mcut OF Brunswick to receive tho rents from Ills
private domains. In tho meantime ho had nc
qurod great fondness for buying and selling
diamonds. Tho largo diamonds which ho Ind
taken from tho Brunswick eclatzkammer were
10 the main Of = kind not easily salablo at that
such as very flno atrnw.cofored, light green,
pink, and BLUSH diamonds, averaging 20 or 80
carats cach in weight. This collection ho kept
al dccoy to attract doalorH, and, having now n
suftiolonoy Of money. he hogan, to buy gems Of
two carata aud more than two carats. His
specially was poar-shaped diamonds, which,
| siugly, aro comparatively cheap but in paira,
for pendants to ear-rlnEa, are much moro
valuable. Hia plan was to barter and
exchange those pcar-s1laped stones until
ho found perfect matches. for which he
| usually got about twico tho price lie paid
for them when offered singly, by different deal-
was ukillful export; and, though llo rarely used
tho microscope, ho was always able to detect
any fault or flaw In stone presented for Ills in-
apoction. Whenever an especially fino pair Of
drops was wanted by 1Inlphcn. Alagnna, or San
pore, the Duke Of Brunswick was sure to fur
nish thcm if they could be Cotton from no one
else, and lle was also suro to indulge in a ma-
ficouB chucklo at tho extrayngant price which he
| invariably exacted It was his custom to mako
regular rounds to visit Tho diamond.dealers Of
Paris. but ho mover bought 1owols at their eBtnb-
| llshmonts. He preferred to wait quietly at homa
until the dealers brought thoir wares to him.
This many Of thom were compelled by necessity
to do, and the Duke mover failed to profit by
| their straits. On occasions when number Of
dealers wore assembled in the little saloon nd
joining tho bedroom, the scenoH there enacted
would have done credit to pantomo1ium. Fear
full oaths in many languages, loud noises, in
suits, lies, blufr aud brag made up the order Of
! tho day.
Ono anecdote Of tho Dule's transactions is
| we'll worth narrating. A wealthy jewol-dealer
Of London-Leyy by namc-had collection Of
| pearls among which WIS single pear-shapod or
drop pearl Weighing Il grane. It was gom Of rare
beauty, blt had dark grayish ring around 1t,
which, Of course, greatly marred its perfection:
transactions will the Duke, and, as Was custom-
ary, showed his whole stock. The Duke wanted
upon having el00 for It. while the Duke would
offer no moro than 900 francs, or less than Es0
them Levy took his poarl back to London, a
small working jowelor, whlo buying few strings
OF Poarls from Lcvy. Baw tho imperfect, poar-
| ahapod pearl and offered to remove tho impor-
| proved complete SUGGEST. The poar-Hhapod
pearl became y splendid gon, and ths price Of it
i VAS at onco raised to 500 guincas. A purchaser
however, could not be found in London, aud
| who immediately pitched upon tho poarl. Lcyy
took good care to conceal tue fact that thia %
the aamo gem he had previously offered and
represented it as one shat ho Ind recently picked
up in London. After tho usual preliminary
swearing and quarreling, THO Duke, much to the
surprise Of Levy, bought the pearl for 12,500
francs. Lovy chuck1ed over his bargain aud,
hating tho Duke as every dealor did, waited for
him that afternoon at tho Cafo Richie. whittier
tho Duke vent every afternoon, betwoon and
O'clock to got hie coffee. Whon tho Duke up
poared Levy tnuntol him with having paid Il, 500
francs for pearl for which ho had refuHod to
pay f1o0. The Duko replied by taking from hia
waistcoat two pcar-shapcd pearl drops % like
one another as two peAa-perfoct matches in
ahape and color-nnd triumphantly askod LoYy
which Of tho two had boen his. "Why, you
rascally scounlrel," !" said the amiabo Duke, ~ you
had mo fast this morning. could not let your
pearl go even il you had asked mo II 900 for it.
But there il always star above protecting soy-
ereignB."
In fact the WHY Duke had been for years hunt
Ing match for his pearl, aud had at Inst found
it.