Page:A treatise on diamonds and precious stones including their history Natural and commercial.djvu/79

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DIAMOND.
43

very, &c. The cutting and polishing this gem occupied above two years; the whole expense of which is said to have fallen little short of £3000. The fragments which were split or sawn from it were valued at some thousands. It weighs 136¼ carats, and may justly be deemed the FINEST BRILLIANT IN EUROPE, By calculation it is worth more than the sum paid for it, and in 1791 a committee of jewellers valued it at above £400,000.

The emperor of Austria possesses a fine yellow Diamond, the largest of that color known; itis oblong and cut in rose, weighs above 1394 carats. It formerly was in the possession of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

The Pigott Diamond is a brilliant of great surface both in table and girdle, but is considered not of sufficient depth. Its weight is 49 carats. This gem is valued at £40,000, and was, about 20 years ago,made the subject