THE SANCY.
The
story, perpetually retailed, that the Diamond just described, and the
first specimen of the art invented by Berquem, has come down to our
times under the name of the almost equally famous " Sancy Diamond," is
a mere fable resting upon a basis of mistakes and confusion. Robert de
Berquem, a descendant of the Duke's jeweller, and who would naturally
have made the most of such a tradition had it been current in his own
times, tells us distinctly the true origin of the " Sancy " in his '
Merveilles des Indes' (published 1669), in these words :—"La Royne
d'Angleterre d'à present a celuy que diffunct M. de Sancy apporta de
son ambassade de Levant, qui est en forme d'amande, taillé à facettes
des deux costées : parfaitement blanc et net; et qui pèse cinquante-quatre carats."
Now the measurement of the noted Burgundian stone, as given in Fugger's
fac-simile of it, namely, five-eighths of an inch square at the base
(or girdle) would, according to Barbot's scale for estimating the weights of Diamonds by their dimensions, produce a weight of only twenty-eight carats,
supposing the pattern to be a perfect brilliant. Although a few more
carats must be allowed in this case for an extremely elevated apex in
place of table, yet even this addition will be far from adequate to bring up the sum