through a number of hands, it finally passed into the hands of Pope Julius II, who presented it to the Emperor of Austria.
8. The Pigott diamond.—This
stone was taken away from India by Lord Pigott about 1775 and passed
through several hands. It is brilliant cut and weighed 82-1/4 carats.
It was once sold for Rs 3-1/4 lakhs. 9. The Hope diamond.—This
beautiful diamond was believed to have been taken from India. It has a
steely or greenish blue colour, an extremely rare tint in diamonds, a
brilliant lustre and a fine play of colours. It has been known since
1830, and its original weight was 112-3/16 carats, but the present
weight is only 44-1/4 carats. It was found at the Kollur mines, stolen
from an Indian temple by Tavernier in 1642 and sold by him to Louis XIV
in 1668. It finally came into the hands of Thomas Phillip Hope. The
stone is supposed to have brought ill-luck in its train. It figured a
great deal in the Great Exhibition of 1851. 10. The Great table of Tavernier.—It was seen by him in 1642. According to him it weighed 242-3/16 carats and
that
it was the largest diamond he had seen in India in the hands of
dealers. His offer of Bs.4 lakhs for this stone was rejected.
11. Dariya-i-noor.—'River
of Light'—It was rose cut and weighed 186 carats. It appears to have
been captured by Nadir Shaw at Delhi and now is the largest diamond in
the Persian collection.
Besides
the above there are other large diamonds obtained from other countries
as the Mattom diamond from Mattom in Borneo weighing 367 carats, (2)
the Braganza from Brazil, that weighed 1,680 carats, (3) the Star of
the South, found in Brazil and weighed 254-1/2 carats, which was
cut to a brilliant of 125 carats, a diamond of the purest water, exhibiting a lovely rose tint under light.
98
