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The largest ruby known is one mentioned by Chardin as having been engraved with the name of Sheik Sephy.
Tavernier gives a figure of another celebrated ruby in the possession of the King of Persia: it is reproduced in Fig. 54. Its weight was 175 carats.
A third, belonging to the King of Visapur, had the figure and dimensions of Fig. 55. It was cut, as will be seen, en cabochon, and it had been bought in 1653 for nearly $13,866.
A fourth, seen by Tavernier in India, is represented by Fig. 56.
According to the judgment of Tavernier it was of secondary beauty; yet this celebrated traveller offered $11,160 to the diamond merchant who possessed it, but could not obtain it at that price.
A ruby possessed by Gustavus Adolphus, and presented by him to the Czarina in 1777, at the time of his journey to St. Petersburg, was the size of a small hen's egg.
A ruby in the French crown, adorning the order of the golden fleece, is in the form of a dragon.
Finally, it is seen from the inventory of 1791 that France then possessed eighty-one oriental rubies, estimated at $6138.
In England the ruby is especially prized; and some beautiful and very valuable stones are in the hands of the nobility. In America it is less highly estimated. |
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Precious Stones Guide Vol 2
>> Famous and Celebrated Rubies
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