The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-02-17
THE BIG SANCY DIAMOND.
9,'e Of the Famous Gems Of
History May Come 10
America.
n Gear Of Russia Ia a Competi-
tor for It's Possess
sion.
= Origin IL Unknown but II Has Bssn
Held Altko by EmpsEors and
Thieves. Ky

- # - ~- MM 81
Thieves. +
tbs Sanoy diamond, IL is said. is likely to
70 TO America. unless il goes to Russia. In
othor words, that the famous diamond was
il Paris, and that i %wsll-known American
lady was thinking of purchasing ii, but that
Mt tho same tins ii is undegstood that the
Russian GEAR was likoly to be a rival Of the
New York millionaire. Theodore Child,
writing to the New York Sun, has some cur
ious information regarding it, from which
ths following data ara taken:
Whence this diamond onmo nobody
knows. The legend says that it belonged
to Charles the Bold, duke OF Burgundy, who
lost it in 147G ut tbs battle of Granson or at
the battle Of Morat, and that IL was found
by e Swiss soldier who sold it for q G. own
to = PRIEST, from whose hands il pissed
through Tiers until it WIS bought by Pope
Julius II. for twenty thousand ducats. nj.
Bspst, however, has dsmonstta tsu that we
have 10 reason to identify the Sanoy with
the diamond which various chroni-
clcrs relate to have been lost at the
battle Of Granson or of Morat. The origin
of the Sancy must remain Il mystery. All
that we can affirm il that it was in the pos
session Of Nicholas Harlay do Sancy when
Henry lV. OF Flauce came to the throne.
This Sane, chief OF the Swiss qua ds,
played an important role at tho beginning
OF the reign OF Henry Nv. He WAS u Gle ,er
d%iplomatist, a sharp inancier and u de-
voted servant Of the king, on whose behalf
he contracted numerous loans and carried
OH MANY interesting operations Of finance.
From fourteen letters written between
1902 and 1904 We find that the duke of Man
tua was in t eaty for the purchase of this
great diamond. But Sancy was in posses
sion OF the atoms before thatdnto. On July
%, 1888, the ston. was pnwned by Sancy to
the NSurcr Rodsrieques for ths sum Of
81 ,40Uo crowns and redeemed on April 6. 1894.
In 1896 Sancy sent his grent diamond to
Constnntiuopls to try to CELL it to tbs sultan,
but the negotiations failed. although Henll
Nv gave the bearer OF the diamond a letter
OF accommodation. III 1893 lie offered it
to the duke of Msntua for $4,000 crowns.
and gave its weight ut sixty karats. Those
negotietionc with the duke of Mantua con-
tinued for two years, but did not come to
any result. because Snncy insisted
upon cash payment, whereas the duke
wished to pay pAit III cash and part in
land. %cnstles and bills. Meanwhile,
Marie di Medicl wanted the diamond, and
Hen y Nv 80 med disposed to buy it for her,
lint Sancy did not succeed i'll that d1rsc-
ton either. Once more h. sent his diamond
to C~onatnntino 10 and in 1GU4 he began to
treat with the grand duke Of Moscow, when
suddenly. at the end Of March, 1904. the
French pmbssaxdcr ut Tendon. brother Of
Nicholas dc Snncy, sold the great diamond
to jaime. i Of England for 10000 o WINS.
payable in threa installmentS.
But tho Due a'Epsrnon. fearing that he
would not he reimbursed. summoned the
queen to pay the interest and the prin cipRl
OF the !. ans, and tbs ~ngequcn WAS that
in ga t payment of his debt ut an estirra-
ton of 3O0, 600 liv, ca. This sale, however,
was fictitious and snbservIent to some COM
plicnttd operations by which, on May %,
1867, tn. two diamonds became the prop
orty of Cardinal Mazarin. who, at his death,
be 1uexthed thu III to tbs T. ench crown:
Tho Hncy wls the fist of tho eighteen
Mszsrins, and in 1858 it was preserved i'll
the kings Casket, together with six other
large diamonds, to ts mounted in clasps,
aiprcttes, OF aarates do chnpeau.
Up to this time tho Sancy seems to have
retained ltS original mount, which was II
simple thin gold band with the necessary
grips, and u rug at tho apex whereby to
sus pend it.. Daring the eighteenth century
it became the fashion with people of quail
ity to change the mounts OF their jewels
every two or three years. The S&ncy vas
this fashion. Thus we read that, ut tho
reception Of Tia Tu kish embassador in
1921, the Young king wore tho Sancy
mounted in a brooch in his hat. In 1929 the
king again wore it III his Int at the BALLS
given bv the regent on March II and Ii,
and also ut tho lie Deum eungin celebration
of tho alliance between Fyance and Spain.
AT his coronation Louis Nv wore a'crown
gur1nounted by the Sancy. When the queen
enterad Paris on Oct. 4, 172S, she wore the
Sancy in her hair. In 1889, at Il ball given
at Versailles and also at the marriage of
Mime. Ellzabsth of France, Queen Marie
Lsozinska wore a necklace with the Sancy
hanging rs a pendcioque or pendant, just
as We SEQ in Van Loo'g portrait Of her now
hanging in tho Louvre. Mario Antoinette
also wors the Sancy in various mounts, but
this diamond was not recut when the other
crown jewels were sent to Amsterdam for
that purpose before the inventory of 1774;
it retained is pendeloque fotm and print
tive cutting, and has remained unmodified,
both in shape and in weight, up to the pres
ent day.
In TIE crown used Mt the coronation of
Louis XIV the pear-shaped diamond COM
the hsur-ds-lis on tho summit
of she crown was the Sancy; thelarge dia-
mond in the front Of the head band with q
flat table was the Regent or Pitt diamond,
bought in the second ear of the reign Of
Louis XIV for $500. 600 francs, and esti-
mated in the inventory of 1871 at II. 600, 600,
which estimation has bcen maintained at
tho present day. Thu Regent is now in the
Louvre in 3 glass case in the center of the
Galerie d'ApollQn.
The crown Of Marie Leczinska also
the pear-shapsd Sancy in the
tieu -ds-lis en- the summit. The shape and
details Of this crown have been preserved
in a contemporary engraving and in the
20 traits OF the queen by Van Leo and
now in the Louvre.
The Marquis d'Iranda of Madrid. who
supplied the republic with horses. received
from the directory in tho year four 1000, 900
francs worth of diamonds on account of
his bill, and among the diamonds given to
him was the Sanoy. estimated at 300, 900
These diamonds were given as
guaranty Of repaymsnt,a and when, i'm the
year nine, the Ma auis d'Irsnda had been
fully paid. he had to restore tho diamonds
oivon to him as security. In the ~restora-
ton, however, ono diamond, the Sancy,
was missing, and thu consuls decided that
1rnnda should pay for the diamond the
price at which it had been estimated a. 90.
curity. namely, 100000 francs. This de-
eiuior is roccrdaI in q IACran IoAnl to- Jr