PRECIOUS STONES. 139
found
at the Partial Mines in India in 1701, and was bought by Governor Pitt
for £20,400 ; later it was bought by the French Regent for £80,000, and
was cut in London at a cost of £5,000. It was stolen with the Sancy
Diamond in 1792, but recovered, and still remains the property of the
French nation. In the rough it weighed 410 carats, when cut it was 137
carats ; in form it is a typical brilliant (Fig. 8).
Of
the few engraved Diamonds three may be mentioned. The "Shah" is an
elongated stone chiefly bounded by cleavage planes; on it were engraved
the names of three Persian kings; it is amongst the Eussian jewels. The
Akbar Shah was engraved with an Arabic inscription ; it is now owned by
the Gaikwar of Baroda. Queen Victoria had in her collection of engraved
gems a large yellow Diamond engraved with the Prince of Wales' crest;
it belonged to Charles II. when Prince of Wales.
The " Dresden Green" Diamond and the "Russian Red" have already been referred to.
The
" Star of South Africa " was found in 1869 in river diggings, and
passed from a Kaffir to Schalk van Niekerk. Its weight in the rough was
83-1/2 carats, and when cut as a brilliant 46-1/2.
The
"Victoria" is also a South African stone ; its weight, rough, was
457-1/2 carats. In 1893 a stone of 971-3/4 carats was found at the
Jagersfontein Mine. From it a perfect brilliant of 239 carats was cut,
and this is known as the " Excelsior," or " Jubilee " Diamond. A stone
of 655 carats was found at the same mine in 1895.
But far exceeding all previous South African Diamonds, and also all previously heard of specimens, is the stone
