Famous Russian Diamonds

The country that is most rich in diamonds at present is Russia.

Besides special collections of diamonds in the treasury of this empire, there are three crowns of which they form the sole jewels. The first, that of Ivan Alexiowitch, contains 881; that of Peter the Great, 847; and that of Catherine the Great, 2536.

Among the large diamonds in Russia the most remarkable is the Orlow. It weighs 193 carats. It has, as is shown by Fig. 44, the form of a half egg. It is one of the ornaments of the imperial sceptre.

This beautiful diamond was originally from India. It formed for a century and a half one of the eyes of the famous idol of Serringham in the temple of Brahma; the other eye was a diamond of the same order.

At the commencement of the eighteenth century the idea seized a French soldier of one of the French garrisons in India to steal the eyes of this celebrated idol. He pretended to be inspired with a wonderful zeal for the Hindu religion, and gained to that degree the confidence of the priests that they confided to him the care of the temple. He chose his time, and one stormy night carried off one of the diamonds; the other could not be forced from the socket. He fled to Madras, where he sold the stolen treasure to a captain of the English navy for $9300. Conveyed to England it was bought for $55,800 by a Jewish merchant, who sometime after sold it to Catherine II. for $418,500, and a pension for life of $18,600.

It was this famous stone that suggested Wilkie Collins' novel "The Moonstone."

Another beautiful Russian diamond is called the Shah: it belonged once to the ancient monarchs of Persia. It is of very excellent water, and weighs 95 carats. Fig. 46 shows the peculiar form of this beautiful stone.

The third great Russian diamond is the "Moon of the Mountain." It was bought for 50,000 piastres of an Afghan chief by an Armenian merchant named Schafnass, who kept it for twelve years, and then sent it by his brother to Amsterdam, where, after a long negotiation, it was bought by Russia for $334,800 and a patent of nobility.