fidelity had given him at the last moment the presence of mind to swallow it.
According
to the inventory of 1791 the Sancy weighed 33-12/16 carats. It excited
especial interest from the peculiarity of its cutting.
In
1792 the Sancy once more disappeared, and was found by the police of
Paris, through an anonymous letter, in the Champs Elysees. It is now
in Russia, and is valued at what M. Helphen considers an exaggerated
price, $186,000.
The
crown-jewels of France, including the Regent and the Sancy, contained
in 1774, 7482 diamonds. This magnificent collection was stolen in 1792.
The
collection of Napoleon I., gathered from every part of Europe, was
superior to the old collection, but inferior to the one subsequently
made, which contained 64,812 diamonds, in 1832, valued at $3,887,848.
After that time there was again an increase in the number of the French
jewels, including the beautiful Empress Eugenie.
Within
a year, according to statistics of 1872, the Bonaparte family alone
have thrown upon the market diamonds to the amount of $1,210,000.
Brazil,
rich in mines of precious stones, would naturally be supposed to
possess valuable jewels; and in fact the crown diamonds of this empire
are valued at more than $18,600,000.
