mounting.
This pearl ultimately sold for more than $30,000, and it is probably
the finest black pearl that has ever reached the European markets.
According
to a personal communication from Ε. Ζ. Steever, governor of the
District of Sulu, the largest pearl that he has seen in the islands
belongs to the sultan, and is now in the possession of Hadji Butu,
former prime minister. It is an oblate spheroid, there being a trifling
différence between the two diameters. The upper hemisphere is very
beautiful ; the lower one has a few minute, black specks which are
superficial and could be easily removed, the pearl not having been
treated since it was taken from the oyster. This pearl measures five
eighths of an inch at its greatest diameter and is said to weigh twelve
carats (forty-eight grains). Hadji Butu informed Governor Steever that
the sultan had refused $25,000 for the pearl in Singapore.
The
Nordica pearl is the finest abalone of which we have any record. It
weighs 175 grains, is a drop pearl of a greenish hue, with brilliant
red fire-like flashes, and serves as a pendant to the famous
collection of colored pearls belonging to the beloved and admired
American prima donna, Madam Nordica.
At
the International Exposition in Paris in 1889, Mr. Alphonse Falco,
president of the Chambre Syndicale, exhibited a round pearl, white and
lustrous, weighing seventy grains, and valued at 50,000 francs.
Augusto
Castellani, the well-known Italian jeweler of Rome, in the year 1868,
during the Papal régime, executed a crown for King Victor Emmanuel II.
This crown was destined for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in
Jerusalem, and on it is a pearl which, although slightly irregular, is
as large as the famous Gogibus pearl.
A
remarkable golden-yellow' pearl from Shark's Bay, West Australia, is in
the possession of a New York lady; it weighs thirty and one half
grains, is perfectly round, and is without a flaw or blemish.
Crown Jewels of France. The
collection of gems known as the Crown Jewels of France owed its origin
to Francis I (1494-1547). While in Bordeaux, on his way to meet'his
bride, Eleanor of Austria, sister of Emperor Charles V, Francis created
by letter patent the Treasure of the Crown Jewels, giving to the state
a number of his most valued diamonds, under the condition that at each
change of sovereign a careful inventory should be made. The original
collection consisted of six pieces of jewelry valued at 272,242 "ecus soleil," or
about $700,000. The crown jewels have passed through many vicissitudes
in the course of time. A number of the gems were at various
