Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-12-25
THE FRENCH CROWN JEWELS.
Efforts for Their Purchase-Mrs.
Haackay,s Peerless SapPrires.
I,,nrr unnnar,S Paris Iattar

Speaking of the Legitimists, very
old association has been formed among
the partisans OF royalty in France,
which has the object of purchasing the
crown Jewels which are shortly to be OF
fered for sale, with the intent to pre-.
serve them in safe keeping till the resto
ration of the Monarchy or Empire takes
place. There never was movement set
on foot that was much more absurd than
this, in ew of the perfectly common
place character of the trinkets which
are to be disposed of. ALI the unique
gems, including the Regent and the
Mazarin diamonds, and the few really ar
tistio pieces of the collection, are to be
preserved. The remainder, valued at
about 81, 500, 900, comprises number of
very handsome bat perfectly ordinary
sets of precious stones, which could be
got up at moments notice by any one
of the leading jewellers of Paris. And l
do not think that any future Queen of
France would care to assume the famous
girdle of the Empress Eugenie, copied
from that worn by the representative of
the Princess Aka in the fairy spectacle
of "La Biche au Bois," or the necklace
formed of network Of gold chains and
great pear.shaped inl,ta..;;nn pearls,
which she once wore wheu representing
a Venetian Duchess as ball costume.
1t was not exactly the thing for an EN-
press to deck herself with imitation
Jewels, but Eugene was always more
cabortine than imperial. Her necklace
of pearls, the wedding gift to her of the
Emperor, had an odd series of vicissi-
tudes. 1t was originally sold after the
fall of the Empire, 10 Nine. Musard,
then, after the death of that parsonage,
it fell into the hands of dealer in
second hand wares. who vainly offered
it for some time at the price of $40, 600;
and it was finally broken up and disposed
of, string by string, among the Parisian
jewellers. Ia the world of Partisan
fashion the Princess Anna Mprat,
Duchess de Mouohy, is said to possess
the finest collection of ornaments, the
Viscountess de Courval owns the largest
and finest and purest diamonds. and the
Duchess of Bisaccia the most curious
collection OF unset gems.
The eulogies of the peerless sapphires
of Mrs. Mackay have been SO often
written and uttered that they need moth
ing more than mere mention here.
Mrs Mackay also possesses three large
rubies of great beauty and historical in
terest. They are known to connoisseurs
bv the name of "The Drops of Blue
Blood," and were brought from Spain
into France by Maria Theresa, wife of
Louis XIV, Of whose wedding orna.
ments tney formed part. They are of
q most beautiful rich hue, but through
the center of each stone runs narrow
wavering blush stain like a thread OF
pale blue mist, from which their curious
name was probably derived. From their
perfect matching in size and color, it is
probable that they were originally worn
as pendants to o brooch or necklace
clasp. In their present form they are
set two as earrings and the third as
ring. Mrs. Mackay's pearl necklaces
are unique in beauty and are not to be
parallelled out ide of the jewel.cas
kets of royalty. One is composed OF
three rows of pearls, perfect in water
and matching precisely, each pearl being
the size Of large huckleberry. Bauche
ron, the great Partisan jeweler, was
three years in collecting the pearls that
compose it. The other necklace is
string of graduated pearls. the G ntel
one equaling in magnitude a good-sizsd
cherry. But the fair owner OF all these
splendors cares less about them ant
wears them less often than can well b,
comprehended by a sister woman. Sh'
was offered at one time the immense ant
most beautiful yellow diamond known
as the "Star of South Africa" before i
was finally disposed Of to the Shah o
Persia, but refused to purchase it. Ant
only her most intimate friends eve
guessed that the reason of this refusa
was the magnitude of the sums whic
at that epoch she had dedicated to tn
charitable works which form the grea
happiness of her life.