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REMARKABLE DIAMONDS AND GEMS
sioned
Mr. E. Dresden of London and Paris to buy the "Star of the South" for
80,000 pounds sterling. Mr. Dresden applied through Mr. Halphen to the
syndicate and later paid Mr. Halphen the 80,000 pounds sterling for the
diamond.
HOPE DIAMOND
The
Hope diamond is interesting, as it is the largest blue diamond known.
It is called the "Hope" because it once belonged to a famous London
banker by that name. Mr. Henry Hope purchased it in 1830 for 18,000
pounds. Hope's grandson who was given possession of the diamond at his
grandfather's death became bankrupt and the diamond disappeared. Later
it was pawned, and the trustees of the Hope estate purchased it. It was
sold at public auction in Paris, June 24, 1909, and bought by an
American syndicate for 80,000 dollars. February 2, 1912, Evalyn Walsh
McLean (an American woman who at present lives in Washington, D. C.)
purchased it for 154,000 dollars. The present weight of the Hope
diamond is 4542 carats —formerly it weighed 67.125 carats. It has a
shape something like that of a pear.
PITT OR REGENT
The
"Pitt" or "Regent" diamond was found by a negro slave in 1701 in the
Partneal mines on the Kistna River, India. This slave cut his leg
deeply to pouch the stone in his flesh. At the first chance he ran away
to the sea coast where he met an English skipper whom he trusted with
his
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