REMARKABLE DIAMONDS AND GEMS (Continued)
said
have paid 60,000 dollars for it. It was valued by Kluge, a German
authority, in 1860 at 150,000 dollars. It is apple-green in color and
is perfectly transparent and flawless.
Another
green diamond in this collection (August the Strong) is a brilliant
weighing 40 carats which, it is said, the King was accustomed to wear
in his hat.
ENGLISH DRESDEN
The
English Dresden, so called to distinguish it from the Green Dresden, is
one of the few large diamonds that have been obtained from Brazilian
mines. It weighed in the rough 119-1/2 carats. The rough stone was
found about 1857 in the Bagagem district, Brazil, the locality in which
nearly all the large Brazilian stones have been found. The same year it
came into the possession of Mr. E. Dresden of London, England, who
after cutting it, offered it for sale to various crown princes of
Europe without success. He finally sold it for 200,000 dollars to an
English merchant in BomÂbay, India. This merchant was a large dealer in
cotton and was able to purchase the diamond through profits made
possible by the great increase in the price of this comÂmodity during
the American Civil War. Shortly after his purchase of the stone,
however, the war ended, the price of cotton fell to such a low point
that, lacking capital which he had invested in the gem, the merchant
failed. The shock of failure soon brought on his sickness and death.
The stone was then sold by his executors to the Gaikwar of Baroda, in
whose possession, it still remains so far as is known.
105
