Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-08-05

OF the great precious stones in the
world could never be arrived at. II
may be said, however, that the figures
would be enormous, and far beyond the
appraiSing the imagination of those
who have not put down upon paper the
many millions OF estimated value
Those now in existence are the accu-
mutation of centuries, their comparative
worth varying at different periods. 1t
was the skill of the lapidary, says the
Philadelphia Times, that did mole TO
pupulaiZe the diamond than any in
herent virtue which the diamond it
self possessed Before that time the
ruby held sway, with the beautiful
pearl as a good second, in the appre-
citation and admiration of the world.
Even today a faultless ruby is worth
considerable more and is deemed by
many more beautiful than a diamond.
Fifteen hundred dollars has frequen
ly been given for ruby of three carats,
although diamond of the same weight
would sell for no more than $500. In
order to make the ruby a gem which
surpasses the diamond in value, no
matter how brilliant nor how free it
may be from defects and flaws, it
must possess the exact pigeon blood
red" so highly esteemed b. all lovers
of the stone
1t was in 1856 that the cutting Of
diamonds into regular forms first be
gam to be practiced. The business
/ is now most extensively carried on in
! Amsterdam, although in this country
1 at the present time, are many eN
cellent diamond cutters whose services
are highly valued, OF more than 80
! 600 Jews now living i'll Amsterdam, il
! is estimated that mt least 1900 are di-
/ recrly OF indirectly dependent upon
the trade of diamond cutting. In that
city such labor is poorly paid, although
the greatest skill and seyerest honesty
/ is requisite Diamonds are cut III
three forms, namely, the table, the
rose and the brilliant. The last has
1 superseded the first two, except for in
/ ferior stones. The brilliant is a double
pyramid or cone cut off at the top to
plane or table, and ut the bottom
to Il small one, called the collet. AS
for the weight Of diamonds, it is cal
culated as follows: -Four grains equal
one carat, al - carats equal one
ounce Troy From this it may be seen
that Il diamond grain is less than an
ordinary Troy grain-fve diamond
( grains are equal TO four Troy grains.
The CREATES diamonds in the world
may be thus enumerated; First the
/ Braganza, which is probably only a
/ white topaz. whose weight in the rough
I is 1850 carats. The second place is
taken by the Matan, whose weight in
/ the rough is 1867 carats. Third comes
/ the OrlOff, whose weight after cutting
was 1913 carats Fourth is the Austrian.
or Florentine Brilliant, which weighed
after cutting, 139 II Carats. Fifth
comes the Pitt, or Regent, which
weighs cut 1876 "a carats, although in
the rough it weighed 40 carats. Sixth
! in order of weight comes the Star of
/ the South. weighing in the rough
/ 254 IL carats, and after cutting l24 II
caratS. Seventh is the British Kohl
moor, whose first weight after cutting
was 1856 carats, but it was cut second
! time down to 1O2 Il carats. Eighth
/ in the order comes the Stewart, the
! largest Cape diamond whose weight in
/ the rough is 2SS 3-S carats. Ninth is
/ the shah, whose weight now that it
\ is cut it 50 carats Tenth is the
/ Pigott. weighing after cutting 80 IA
carats. Eleventh comes the Nassack,
/ whose weight after cutting was IS 5-S
carats. Twelfth place is held by Nh
/ Dresden's Brazil diamond, which
weighed after cutting 7G II carats,
/ The thirteenth place is taken by Prof.
Tenants Cape diamond, whose weight
/ in the rough was 10 carats, reduced
/ to GO carats after cutting The -four
teenth is the Sancy. which weighs now
/ that it is cut. 81 carats
I The Braganza was found in Brazil
/ in the year 1741, and is the size Of
hens egg. There are many judges of
/ precious stones who believe this one TO
! be nothing but white topaz, and as
I the Brazilian government to whom 1t
/ belongs viii not suffer it to come under
+ the eye Of an expert it is impossible
/ 10 deny their assertion The value Of
I ttllA stone Is Hol gwen biA Al ~ ~ IA
deed q real and perfect diamond it
cannot be worth less than 100000,
for the Matan, which is not one-fourth
\ its e'- is appraised by experts at
I S1.3J000 Catherine H. Of Russia gave
10000 rubles. or S337.5oO, a pension
/ Of 10000 rublcs and a patent Of nobih
~ 10 the Jews Of whom she bought
the Orlof. a rose diamond. now set in
\ the top of the Russian scepter
The Austrian or T1orentine Brill.
liant. also called the Grand Duke OF
( Tuscany. has slightly yellowish
tint and is valued mt 100000 1t is
said to have been bought as colored
crystal alta jewelers. shop in Florence
( The star Of the South is q diamond
\ found by a negro in the province Of
] Minas Geraes. Brazil in 1888 It's
value is not given The shah. pre-,
sented = III, Emperor Of Russia b.
Z Chosrocs. son Of Abhas Nirza Of
/ Persia. is a faceted prism. and Is en-.
4 grayp.I with Persian inscription.