The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-20

] throne ana as TINS diamond. now In pos
/ session Of Victoria, was owned by Shah
] Jcnan, the story may be true. When
/ Delhi was sacked by the Persiaus under
I Nadir Shah in 1893 the throne was plumber
! ed Of its Jewels broken up and carried
away. with $1jJ.O00,000 OF loot. block of
/ white marble now marks the spot where
/ Catherine II and Peter the Great of
/ Russia We're lovers of precious stones,
/ and collected fine examples Of the jew
/ elers art. which are preserved, together
/ with other precious relies IN the KrepHn
I in the Ouregena Palata. at Moscow Here
/ are thrones studded with diamonds, ru-
\ bies, turquoises, pearls, emeralds, and
saDphires, an orb containing ruby
weighing fOrty-nine karats and swords
and scimitars thickly studded with gems.
ne JeWels proper, Wnlcn are enclosed
in cases, include workmanship Of Renais-
sance, Byzantine and Persian handiwork
all by master hands. The wealth of gems
used is amazing. Stones cut and uncut
some of the largest size, shine in these
regalla. Most wonderful Of all is the cor
onation crown of Catherine l. made es-
/ pecially Tor her by order Of Peter the
Great. There are 2.S5S diamonds in this
crown and over the brow is a magnificent
ruby. In a separate case are placed all
the Jewels worn by the empress and grand
duchess on state occasiOns and among
| diamonds the gems galore is a very large
pink diamond, which belonged to Peter
| the Great. In state silver and gold ware
this collection Is unsurpassed and her
| monarchs have been purchasing continu-
ously Tor three centuries, and never sell
ing their possessions.
In France Louis XIV and Louis XIV
| took particular interest in this subject
II was al the suggestion of the former
that Tavernier, the great traveller, made
his search for gems in so many coun-
tries Of the world, and unearthed the
| blue diamond"
In 1857 the French crown jewels were
| sold at public auction by order of the
government, realizing some 100000 francs
| These jewels included all but two of the
| Mazarin diamonds and many gems were
worn by the unfortunate Marie AntOfn-
cite. About One-third of the entire amount
aucuoned OF was purchased by one Amer
lean. The great Regent diamond was not
sold This and two Mazarin diamonds are
now on exhibition in a case in the Ca
| lerie d'Apollon, in the Louvre. Probably
the more luxurious and respondent mir
rOr is now in the Louvre originally pos
sessed by Queen Marie de Medici. Ii is
of rock crystal, and the frame was of
polished agate set in a network of en-
ameled gold. This was but the inner
frame. The outer one was composed en-
tirely Of precious stones, consisting of
sardonyX, jasper, rubies, erneralds and
diamonds. When the inventory of the
crown diamonds was taken in 1891 by or
DER OF the national assembly, this work
of art was valued at 10000 francs II Is
now in the Louvre.
The English royal collection has been
| gradual growth. The present repository of
the English regalia Is the Tower of Lon
don. After the execution of Charles l.
some OF the older objects We're broken up
and dispersed. and at the restoration Il
was necessary to reconstruct many of
them for the kings coronation Nearly all
the historical pieces date no further back
than the time of Charles II. The ancient
regalia comprises two crowns, an orb, a
sceptre with a cross, a scepter with dove
long scepter Of gold a ring with a ruby
and several minor articles.
The most conspicuous and valuable OBJ
1eqt in the collection Is the crown of Queen
Victoria, made for her coronation in 1898
many of the jewels being of great an
tiquity. In one of the crosses in front of
the. crown Is set the famous ruby which
belonged TO the Black Prince. The crown
contains in all 2,1SS diamonds, III pearls,
8 rubles, II sapphires, and Il emeralds.
In the treasury of the imperial and royal
house Of Austria, at Vienna are some re-
markable specimens of work In rock crys-
tai, eWers, hagons, and tankards orna-
mented and engraved with elebaroate
scenes and landscapes, and set with en-
amel, gold and precious stones These
pieces were used at the coronation of the
Austrian kings, or for their domestic ser
| vice. vase in the same collection is
| formed of a single Peruvian emerald
weighing 1850 carats which Is said to
| have been part of the treasure of Bur-
| gundy. Here also, is the imperial crown
| of Austria, made during the reign of Ru-
| dolph II. 1t is of pure gold, richly adorn-
| ed with diamonds pearls, and rubies The
| circlet Is of gold encircled with large fiat
| diamonds and pearls. two ranges of deep
! " set pearls decorating the border The
upper border OF the circlet is adorned
| with four large and four small 1eur-de-
! lys ornaments bearing large rubies, dla-
| mOnds and pearls. The skeleton of the cap
| Is composed OF DfOaQ stripes OF enamel,
! accompanied by range of pearls on either
side of he hoop which divides the cap into
| two halves. Each half is formed by two
TRIANGULAR plates Of gold, on which the
| principal scenes of the coronation are
! wrought in bas-relef. The hoop is sur
mounted by a little cross adorned by
sapphire of matchless beauty. This is one
of the most remarkable specimens of Ger
man goldsmiths' work extant and in point
of value. and general workmanship is
unique Of its kind.
| Tie imperial orb Is very similar in stvle
The scepter probably made for the cor
onation of the Emperor Matthias in 1872
| is somewhat similar in workmanship, but
probably the most striking of all the jew
| els here displayed is the diamond crown
| of the empress, whose value exceeds 1900,
900 norins. Inc nnest gems in this crown,
remarkable in size, brilliancy, and polish,
| We're part of the private jewels of the
| Empress Maria Theresa.
In the insignia of the Order of the Gold
| en- Fleece, which contains $50 diamonds
| of great beauty, is the Frankfort soli-
taire," gem of the finest water weigh
| ing AZ carats, purchased by the Emperor
! Francis at Frankfort. Several other de-
| coratons of the Golden Fleece are also
worthy of notice, one among them con-
! tain seven brllllantS weighing in the ag-
| gregate over 50 carats, while still others
| have large topazeS, hyacinths, garnets
| or shrysolites clustered around with dia-
| monds. A grand cross of the military or
| der of Maria Theresa contains a rose-col-
! ored brilliant of 261s Carats; a complete
parure of rubies, consisting of a tiara, a
|
watch, is interesting because of the fine
quality of the gems, and also because 1t
| formerly belonged TO the Inflated Maria
| Antoinette. Queen of France.
Here is preserved the rose necklace of
| Maria Theresa, comprising thirteen rose
brilliants, large-sized brilliants filing the
centers, and eleven pendeloques set with
large solitaire brilliants of wonderful
beauty. The famous FloTentine diamond
one of the largest diamonds known, act
ually fills the trivial role Of a hat button
in the midst of this bewildering display.
1t weighs 1888 carats, is sherry colored,
and is so cut as to form a star with nine
rays.
The stone was once the property of
Charles the Bold of Burgundy, who used
10 carry it into battle with him as a tails
man. He lost ii at the battle of Morat in
1876, and after many changes of owner
ship, and a lapse of over 800 years, it came
into the Austrian treasury through the
marriage of the Duke of Tuscany with
Maria Theresa. Buttons for coats, waist
coats, and hats are formed each one or
more of magnificent topazes set round
with brilliants. A large hyacinth weigh
ing 4l6 carats is fashioned into the body
of an eagle, and a set of pearl necklaces
and bracelets contains over 4S0 pearls of
varying size some very large and fine
] sf,Ff. #sf.r,