Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-08
THE WORLDS FINEST DIAMOND.

A Perfect Stone of Enormous Size and Value.
An Interesting History.
81 could feed my family and have por-
terhouse, cut short, every day on what it
costs me to look at that diamond. -
The speaker stood in the Grand Hotel
corridor holding out a jewel as big as a
Malaga grape. 1t was Alvin Patton, the
diamond merchant of Cincinnati. He
had been in the city closing out the big
gest diamond sale ever made in the
Hoosier capital. A lady of distinction,
who receives comfortable allowance
yearly, has laid up enough to buy n
necklace of the first-water stones, at a
cost of SO 500. The jeweler had taken
his collection out of the safe and was on
a mission that promised a sale of rare
stones to another lady known to society
He carried with him the great stone of
which he was speaking at the time of the
opening of this interview.
'sIt is the finest diamond in the
world, - he continued. Chow do
know that? In the same way that 1
know that Maud S. is the finest horse.
There doubtless are larger stones, espec-
tally among some of the crown jewels of
Europe, but their quality can not equal
this. OF course they are not in the mar
ket. AT any rate, not one of them can
be a finer stone than this. Perfection
can not be beaten -
He held the stone in the light. It was
indeed dazzling jewel. To the unframed
eye it emitted a clear white light. In
trade terms 1t is of a delicate blue, known
as blue-white or steel color. There can
be no perfect white without blue, as the
absence Of the blush tint means the pres
enoe of yellow, and yellow in diamond
is like mud on Hclean'' shirt This
magnificent stone is ''known - in several
Continents. 1t is in the highest degree
perfect stone, and that it is SO large and
yet perfect is its rarity. 1t is an ''old
Hine' stone, in contra distinction from
the diamonds of the new African fields.
When first found in the Brazilian mines
it, weighed forty two karats. 1t was first
cut to eighteen karats. A second cutting
in Antwerp reduced it to fifteen karats,
and that is now its weight. For many
years before the second cutting it be-
longed to Portuguese 1iobIemau.
i"H How did it come into your possess
sionI was inquired of the present owner.
i"After the second cutting the stone
was placed on exhibition in Antwerp at
the Lapidaries exposition. My agent
then begged me, for the sake of the art
in America, and for the love of beauty
and perfection, to buy it. I foolishly
consented and still have it. The stone is
too large, of course, for use, and too val
liable to own. 1t is, therefore, unmer-
- ..
'tWhat is its value in dollars?''
o. IA TN.z
monds of a single karat are worth 500
each. I have never seen diamond of
this quality heavier than six karats ex-
eept this one. Now, above karat
weight the way to determine the value of
a diamond is to square the weight and
by the value per karat-that is
to say, diamonds of large size are worth
more proportionately than small dia-
monds of the same quality. A five karat
is worth not FIVE, but twenty
five times as much as diamond Of one
karat weight. This big diamond, by that
rule, represents the following value: 15x
15xl00; convert to dollars.
s'When I first received this stone I
took it to Henry D. Morse, the best dia-
mond cutter this country ever had.
Walking into his room 1 said to him:
Mr.. Morse, have little diamond here
that wish you to look at. You know all
there is to know of diamonds. Tell me
what can be done TO improve this one
He took the diamond indifferently, I'M
folded the paper in which it was wrapped,
and when the stone came to view he
almost tainted.
"Great heavens, PattonI Where did
you get this? Improve that! Why, an
angel from heaven couldn t improve it ~
1t Is curious that the mind can not
carry color. 1t was written thousands of |
years ago that man forgetteth what man.
ner of man he is Immediately after look
ing into a glass. Mr.. Patton called
attention to this popularity and applied
it to diamonds. "You must compare
diamonds to determine their quality -
he said. GA stone new to you may seem
to be perfect until you compare it with
one which you know to be Of FIRST quality.
The faintest yellow will then appear dis
:inctly; hide the better stone and at
,nce the inferior one looks luminous and