with the object of obtaining the perfect cut, on three rough ' Diamonds of extraordinary dimensions, sent to him by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy.
No. I., historically known as the " Beau Sancy," was a thick stonercut
all over with facets. The author has had this stone examined and many
models of it taken, and his impression is that the stone commonly
called the " Beau Sancy" is the work of an Indian lapidary.
No.
2 passed into the hands of Pope Sixtus IV. No. 3, a badly proportioned
stone, shaped as a triangle, was set in a ring, which, as a symbol of
constancy, represented two hands clasped. Strange to say, it fell into
the hands of that most faithless and inconstant of kings, Louis XI. It
was presented to him by the Duke of Burgundy. Robert de Berquem relates
that his grandfather, Louis, received from Charles the Bold 3000
ducats for his work.
Of
Louis' pupils, many went to Antwerp, some to Amsterdam, and others to
Paris. In the last named city the art of diamond-cutting did not
flourish at once, owing possibly to want of encouragement and to lack
of raw material. It made some progress, however, under the powerful
influence of Cardinal Mazarin, who ordered twelve of the thickest
Diamonds of the French crown to be re-cut, and thenceforward they
received the name of "the twelve Mazarins." No one knows what
ultimately became of these costly stones. In the inventory of the
French Crown Jewels, in 1774, there is only one, with the number 349,
to which the name " tenth Mazarin " is given. This was a four-cornered
Brilliant, with somewhat obtuse angles, of pure water, weighing sixteen
carats, and valued at £2000.
Owing to the patronage of the Cardinal, and the taste
