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Show By RENE BACH E IT IS WORTH $5,000,000. King Edward's new diamond, cut from tho "Oullinan," is so large that it dwarfs all other gems of tho kind now in exislQncc. It is 21 "drop brilliant," bril-liant," or 51632 carats 2 3-10 inches long and 1 S-10 inches broad and is valued at $5,000,000. Viewed from tho top, it is a perfectly symmetrical heart. Tho breaking up of the original stone, 1 which weighed 32.1-1 carats (or a lilllu over ono and a third pounds, avoirdupois), avoirdu-pois), was made necessary by the fact that it contained two bad flaws. Such being the case, the principal problem was to get out of it a single cut din- inond of absolute perfection that should bo as large as possible. This would allow al-low for a second gem of exceptional si.e, to be obtained from tho next biggest big-gest piece, and for several others of minor dimensions. All of this, of course, had to bo studied out most carefully in advance It had to bo determined iust how tho huge stouo was to be split into how many pieces, and of what size each fragment frag-ment was to bo. For tho "Cullinan" was, potentially speaking, a bunch of big dinmonds in ono chunk. What required re-quired skill was to get them out uninjured, unin-jured, and so to contrive tho operation that every ono of them should be perfect per-fect and flawless. M It goes without saying that tko valuo of a diamond is greatly enhnnced if it bo without imporfection of any kind. Unfortunately, thcro are few of the great diamonds of the world respecting which this can be said. The famous "Orloff," belonging to tho Russian crown, has a flaw; the oven more celebrated cele-brated "Kohinoor" is slightly off color; col-or; being perceptibly grayish. Kind Edward Ed-ward 's new "drop brilliant," on the other hand, is absolutely flawless and of the "extra blue-white" hue that, is deemed fro highly desirable. Tho same thiuq may be said of the lessor gems cut irom the "Cullinan.'' Every ono of them is perfect in all re- I spects; nnd there are no fewer than sevou of these, of moro or less considerable con-siderable si'.o, with the addition of ninety-six smaller ones. Thus a single great stouo has been made to yield quite a collection of cut diamonds of tho finest color, luster, and water. Tt fhould bo understood, however, that tho largest of the minor stones is itself it-self a monstor. exceeding in sizo any other cut diamond now existing in the world. Cut as a square brilliant, if is 1 7-3 0 inches long, and 3 6-10 inches broad, weighing H10 carats. Tho two next in point of fcizo are a "drop" of 92 carats aud a square brilliant of 62 carats. Tho great squaro brilliant is. to be set in the royal scooter, it is uu- : derstood. J'ioni the. .smaller stones, bv ! tho king's special order, a necklace and j pendant arc to be. made fur Cueen Alexandra. 1 4 " ' , ! There is n popular belief to the ct-feet ct-feet that diamonds "in tho rough." as originally found, are dull to the ev and hardly distinguishable from onli- j nary pebbles. This is untrue. They are . ' quite brilliant. though, of courte. skill- I fnl cutting is required to bring out and displav to the best ad van time their, wonderful optical properties. The "Oil-1 Mimn" which was picked up ut Iho , Premier mine, in fhe Transvaal looked 1 llko a piece of very transparent and! 'littering ice. I Similarly, the "hxcelsinr" diamond found in I8i):i, at tho .lagorsfonlein I mine, in the Orange River colony. South Africa had the apuearance of tho! broken-off end of a big icicle. It was of the purest white-water color, and weighed D72 carats, or 7 I-.'J ounces being the. largest stono of the kind that lias ever been known, with the exception excep-tion of the "Cullisiaa." Unluckily, if had ono bad flaw a black spot near the center on which account it had to be eJcft -in two. Iho larger niece, being cut lis a brilliant., and called ihe ".Jubilee," in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's Vic-toria's accession to the throne. This gl-os:ulhu -finest in -existence, until King Edward 's now diamond was cut is perfect in color, luster, and water; and its form is so symmetrical that, when placed on tho truncated apex of its basal pyramid, it stands perfectly balanced. It is 1 5-S inches long, and 1 :t-S inches brond, and J inch in depth. The ".Jubilee" is still awaiting a purchaser. It is supposed to bo worth about $2,n00,000 more money than maiiv people are willing to put into a single gom.' Very likely somo wealthy Oriental potentate will acquire it eventually. even-tually. As for the second aud lesser fragment of the original stone, it was snlit into leu pieces, tho three largest j yielding cut diamonds of 15S, 117 and 1 ir?0 carats, respectively a "pear," a "drop," and a "marquiso" which are among tho most beautiful ever seen. The substance of tho diamond often eontaius impurities, which produce what is called an "off-color" effect, seriously seri-ously lessening tho value. But when the impurities are of such a kind and present pres-ent in such quantity as to givo a pronounced pro-nounced tint to the stone, tho latter may command an extraordinary price. Thus, the celebrated Hope diamond, -14. carats, in color a brilliant sapphire blue, is deemed almost priceless. And the same might be said of tho pear shaped, green diamond, US carats, form erly the property of Augustus the Strong, which is Ihe principal trcasuro of the green vaults at Dresden. In ISoS a ncgrcss, in tho province of Minns Gcraes, Brazil, picked up a pale .yellow diamond, which, afterwards cut to a beautiful oval brilliant of 326 carats, is known today as the "Star of tho South, 'J It. was eventually purchased pur-chased bv tho gaikwar of Baroda, who was a groat diamond fancier. So interested in-terested was ho in his hobby that he was accustomed to destroy those of his subjects who displeased hun b3 poisoning poison-ing them with diamond dust. Ho tried in the samo refined way to got rid of Col. Pha3'ro, tho British resident in hi -mmm his dominions, who had interfered vnth his sanguinary pleasures to some extent. But the colonel did not die, and the gaikwar '3 attempt resulted in his disposition dis-position from the throne. Tho largest colored diamond in tho world is the "Florentine Yellow," of j 3113 carats, which is the property of the Australian crown. It is really of a sherry tiut. . Its history is a mystery though it is well known that Pope Julius 11 gavo it lo the emperor of Austria. A vorj- remarkablo orango-ycllow orango-ycllow diamond, of 125 carats,, cut as a double brilliant, is owned in New York, and valued at $100,000. It is of African origin, and looks liko a chunk of crystalizod sunlight. When Tavernier, the famous traveler, visited India in .1605, he bought a groat blue diamond of 07 carats, which ho sold to Louis XIV. Later it was stolen, and, as is believed, rocut for the purpose pur-pose of disguising it, being divided into two pieces. Tho Inrgcr picco, of 4-1 carats is, it is supposed, tho JIopc diamond already mentioned the other fragment being represented today by a smaller diamond of 12 carats, the "Brunswick Blue." Perhaps the most remarkable of all colored diamonds, however, is a brilliant bril-liant red ono belonging to tho Russian crown. It weighs only 10 carats, but as a curiosit' it is priceless. Likewise. , the properly of Russia is tho "Orloff," alroady mentioned, which is the principal princi-pal ornament of tho czar's scepter. Originally tho eye of an idol in a tom-ple tom-ple on nn island in a rivor near Trich-inopolv. Trich-inopolv. it was stolen by a French soldier, sol-dier, who, disguised ns a devotee, frequented fre-quented the tomplo for many months beforo he had a chance to cet awa3' with it. 3t weighs 394 1-2 carats, but is of crude Oriental cut. Most of Iho great diamonds of the world have romantic and oven tragic histories. For oxamplo, tho "Sancy,' of 53 3-2 carats, was worn by Charles the Bold as a hat button in the battlo which terminated his carocr, in 1470, A Swiss soldior picked it up, taking it for a picco of glass, and sold it ior n florin. Finding its way into tho hands of tho king of Portugal, it was sold by him to tho Baron de Sancy, who sent it ns a present to his sovereign, Honry III. The messenger, wayftid by robbers, swallowed it, and it was recovered re-covered from his body. Eventually acquired ac-quired by Louis XIV, who paid !?125,-000 !?125,-000 for it, it disappeared in tho plunder of tho Tuileries during tho revolution, nnd was finally bought by Prince Paul Domidoff, a Russian nobloniau, in whoso family it remains today. Tho most important com in tho French regalia is the "Regent" diamond, dia-mond, which was found 03 a slave in tho miuos on tho Kistua, in 1701. It was acquired by Thomas Pitt, greatgrandfather great-grandfather of William Pitt, who brought it to London and had it cut. Originally of 410 carats, it yielded a faultless brilliant of 137 carats. Whilo Pitt had it in his possession, ho would never sleep two nights in ono place, and wont about, much of tho time in difguisc. Ho sold it lo tho duko of Orleans, then regent of 3;,rance, for $075,000. It was stolen during tho revolution, with the other royal .iowols, and was found in a ditch in tho Champs Elysocs. Napoleon afterwards wore it on tho hilt of his sword. It is valued todnv at $2,400,000, and up to 1SS5 it wns the finest largo diamond known. The "Star of. South Africa" wns picked up in a rather curious wa3 A trader named O'Reilly, in 3807, was .-journeying through a district known a3 Griqunland West, when he chancod to put up for tho night at the farm of a Boer named Van Newkirk. Newkirk's littlo daughter was playing with some hriulit pebbles on the floor, and O'Kcillv asked if he might have ono of them. The Boer gave it to him and t ho trader afterwards sold it for $1000. It weighed '-S8 carats, and Inter, being it ' I3 carats, was sold to the carl of Dudley, its present possessor, for $55,000. 1 m m m M Tho first European to behold tho '' cclobrated "Kohinoor" was Tavernier, who saw it in 1665 at Delhi in the pos session of tho great moguL It af tcrwards passed throngh many viccis-situdes, viccis-situdes, being, ns ono might say, tho witness of numorous murders committod for its sake. Eventually It became tha property of Dhuloep Singh, maharajah of Lnhoro, and was regarded as tha greatest treasure of his kingdom. Bub he wns a child at that timo and was partly persuaded, partly compelled, tto ?ivo it as a present to Queen Victoria. t weighed 186 carats, but was recut to 106 carats a most lamentable mis-take, mis-take, inasmuch aB it gained not very much in beauty by the operation, whilo losing a large part of its historic value. The hugo diamond known as tho "Great Mogul" was found in 1650 at JH the mines in tho tcrritoo of the nizam IH I ot Hyderabad, known as the Golconda diggings. Originally of 787 carats, it IH was cut. in the crudo Oriental fashion, IH to tho size and shape of half a bantam a IH egg. Tavernier examined it when ho IH visited the court of tho Mogul Em-peror Em-peror in 3665. Nobody knows what af-terwards af-terwards became of it. It is supposed to havo been carried off by the Persians at tho sack of Delhi in 1739, and very likely it wns broken up for tho snko of disguising it. Some experts believe that the "Kohinoor" is a picco of it, 1 and that tho "Orloff" is another piece. ,H The "Great Mogul," it will bo no-ticcd, no-ticcd, wasj.in sizo tho only one even nearly approaching the hugo new dia- IH nionds the "Excelsior" and the "Cul-linau." "Cul-linau." But it is only lately that gems of this kind have been reckoned IH hy tho ounce in weight and by thu IH inch in measurement. |