DIAMONDS COME TO AMERICA
finally turned up, but the whereabouts of the Sancy remained a mystery for thirty-five years.
Then
one day in 1828 a French merchant visited one Prince DemidoS and sold
him a stone for $100,000. Comparisons proved it was the Sancy. The
Russian prince sold it to an Indian merchant and in 1867 it was sent to
Paris to be displayed at the Exhibition. When it was returned to India,
it was purchased by the Maharajah of Patiala and after that------
One
report is that in 1941 it was in the possession of Lady Astor.
Authority for that theory is Col. Henry Yule, C.B., who wrote an
important pamphlet about the Sancy for the authoritative Hakluyt
Society. Mr. Robert Shipley, however, questions the theory. He says
that "there is, however, another stone quite similar in appearance to
the Sancy, and there is a possibility that this is the jewel in the
possession of Lady Astor; most Indian Rajahs do not easily part with
their dearest gems, which they regard with great devotion."
