Famous Diamonds: The Empress Eugenie and The Sancy

Another beautiful diamond is the Empress Eugenie. It is cut as a brilliant, and weighs 51 carats.

A third famous diamond, belonging for some time to France, is the Sancy. Its history is not quite certain. According to some authorities it was brought by an ambassador from Constantinople; according to others, it ornamented the helmet of Charles the Bold, who lost it at the battle of Granson. It was found by a Swiss soldier, who sold it to a priest for two francs; it disappeared then for some time, until, in the year 1589, King Anthony of Portugal pledged it among other stones to De Sancy, then treasurer of the King of France, who retained it by paying 100,000 livres (coinage of Tours). Henry III., after a lapse of time, borrowed it for the purpose of pledging it to the Swiss government; but the servant who was carrying it to the king disappeared, and was not heard of for some time. At last it was discovered that he had been assassinated in the forest of Dole, and buried by the care of a charitable cure in the cemetery of a village. "Then," said the Baron de Sancy, "my diamond is not lost." In fact the gem was found in the stomach of the servant, whose fidelity had given him at the last moment the presence of mind to swallow it.

According to the inventory of 1791 the Sancy weighed 33 12/16 carats. It excited especial interest from the peculiarity of its cutting.

In 1792 the Sancy once more disappeared, and was found by the police of Paris, through an anonymous letter, in the Champs Elysees. It is now in Russia, and is valued at what M. Helphen considers an exaggerated price, $186,000.