his
estimation of the Diamond. Linschotanus, in his ' Iter Indiae
Orientalis,' makes it worth one-seventh more than the latter stone. But
fifty years later De Boot considers that, owing to the vast influx of
the Peruvian kind, its then value could only fairly be reckoned as one
fourth of that of the Diamond, thus exactly reversing Cellini's rule.
But now again Cellini's valuation has suddenly been reestablished
through the total cessation of the supply from America, and a perfect
Emerald commands the highest price of all precious stones in the London
market. De Laet cites from the notes of "a very eminent jeweller" of
the preceding century that in 1540 the Emerald (the oriental) was in as
much esteem amongst the nobility as the Diamond itself; also that the
largest that had ever come to the knowledge of the writer was of 25
carats weight; adding that this particular stone was in 1570 valued at
20,000 crowns ; which was merely one-third of what it would have
fetched at the first-named date.
The
Tourmaline, notwithstanding the general opinion as to its very recent
introduction into Europe, had been long known in De Laet's times. He
describes it as the Brazilian Emerald, of a dark-green shade as if
stained with soot, and disagreeable to the eye. The crystals were
cylindrical, (prismatical?) with three equal sides, sometimes striated
as if done artificially. A mine of it had then lately been discovered
at Santo Spirito, the ownership of which the Jesuits were claiming. In
the previous generation these stones had been cut and worn like the
precious Emerald, never, however, being priced higher than Garnets ;
but by that time they had gone entirely out of fashion.
