Augustus C. Hamlin

“ The blue diamond can be easily detected by its superior brilliancy and hardness. It is very rare that the tourmaline appears of a deep blue, and still more rare for the topaz to assume the appearance except of the very light varieties, and the same may be said of the beryl. The iolite, which, however, is a very rare mineral, may resemble the blue sapphire, but its inevitable dichroism betrays its character. Turn the gem before the eye, and the deception vanishes; the blue disappears as if by magic, and the stone is gray. ”

“ These stones may be of various colors,—blue, red, or gray,—yet the rays of the star are always white or faintly tinged, and stream forth in beautiful contrast to a ground of delicate blue or decided red. The stars appear the most distinctly to view when the polished gem is exposed to direct sunlight or a small bright flame. This mysterious play is seen in but few of the gems, and the sapphire exhibits it in its greatest perfection. ”

“ The brilliancy and rainbow play of the diamond is not so apparent by daylight as by certain kinds of artificial light, when all its latent beauties are called forth as if by magic. The light of the camp-fire in the obscurity of night produces a marvellous effect upon the polished stone; and it is no wonder that the savage heart of the Russian General, Suvaroff, was fascinated by the vivid gleams of his treasured diamonds when viewed at night in the flickering beams of his bivouac fire. ”

“ The Shah is a remarkably irregular prism of slab of diamond, partially faceted by art. Tradition has associated with it adventures of a startling and bloody character.
It was one of the gems possessed by Nadir Shah, and at the time of his death was received as booty and secreted by one of the assassins. Long after the event, an Afghan visited an Armenian by the name of Shafras, who lived at Bassora with his two brothers, and offered him a large diamond, an emerald, a ruby of fabulous size, a sapphire of wonderful beauty, together with a hundred other stones of less value. ”

“ Arms and armor of all periods from Europe and Asia are represented here,—the plain steel-clad vestments of the Crusader; the richly chased and inlaid coats of mail of the knights of mediæval times; the light defences of the Persian and Saracen horsemen, glittering with those gems which were supposed to possess the power of averting fatal missiles; the casques of the Circassian mountaineers, brilliant with barbaric decorations; scimetars, bucklers, scabbards, and a great variety of other arms, resplendent with the most beautiful of the rarest and most precious stones. ”

“ The real charm and value of the diamond lie in its remarkable brilliancy, and in the wonderful prismatic display of the bright and beautiful colors, which are constantly fugitive, but perpetually returning, as the learned Abbé Haüy elegantly expresses it. When a ray of light is reflected from the surface of a body, a particular impression is conveyed to the eye, which we may properly term the eclat. ”

“ These admirable and wonderful artists contrived to enclose within the narrow limit of a little stone all the complicated details of an event in history, or of a fable in mythology; and to make them stand forth in beautiful relief as a cameo, or to sink them down as an intaglio, with all that truth of design and power of expression which characterize the excellence of the largest works of the most consummate masters. ”

“ The fate of the Mogul is shrouded in mystery. The famous gem preserved in the Persian treasury and called Daria-i-noor, “the ocean of lustre,” which Forbes saw and described, is not the lost stone. By some it is believed to be hidden away in some obscure fortress, to appear at some future day when the possessor may display his hidden treasure in safety. This view is certainly warranted by the discovery of the large flat diamond of one hundred and thirty karats among the jewels taken from the harem of Reeza Kooli at the capture of Coocha by the Persian army in 1832. ”

“ Its treasury is indeed a colossal jewel-box, whose wealth must amount to many millions in value, and which rivals, if it does not surpass in richness, the famous shrine of Loretto in Italy. The variety of articles decorated with gems exhibited here is marvellous. Art has made use of the precious stones in her decorations with lavish hand. Some of the frames in which are set sacred pictures are literally composed of gems of the largest size and also costly in price. Even the robes of the Madonnas are spangled with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, topazes, and emeralds, forming the richest mosaics. ”

“ The fire opal occurs in its greatest perfection in the porphyritic rocks at Zimapan in Mexico. It is generally of a translucent hyacinth-red color and flashes forth dazzling beams of fiery carmine-red with yellow and green reflections. This Mexican gem is the most beautiful and gorgeous of all the varieties of opal; but, alas! it is also the most sensitive, and is frequently irreparably injured by water or exposure, or even by sudden atmospheric changes. So easily affected are the opals by the vicissitudes of the weather that they are almost always brighter in summer than in winter. ”

“ The deep regal blue is too intense a color for a night gem, as by artificial light it becomes black. But there are sapphires of a celestial blue possessing perfect limpidity and rich velvety reflections that retain their splendid colors by night as well as by day, and they merit the distinction bestowed upon them by the ancients when they consecrated them to Jupiter. These superb gems are, however, exceedingly rare, and are eagerly sought for by amateurs at prices far above that of the colorless diamond. ”

“ No other gem has been counterfeited with such perfection as the emerald; and in fact it is utterly impossible to distinguish the artificial from the real gems by the aid of the eye alone; even the little flaws, which lull the suspicions of the inexperienced, are easily produced by a dexterous blow from the mallet of the skilled artisan. Not only emeralds, but most of the gems and precious stones, are now imitated with such consummate skill as to deceive the eye ”

“ It is now only a brilliant in name, and it is far too thin in substance to exhibit the beautiful and natural refractive powers of the mineral.
In reality, the form of the brilliant should be cut according to mathematical laws; and its depth and breadth must be of a certain fixed ratio to call forth the natural brilliancy and prismatic display of the stone. This relative degree of form and its wonderful results is well exemplified in the gems cut by Ralph Potter at the commencement of this century, who was, without doubt, the best diamond-cutter the world has seen. ”

“ Like that of Timour, it displayed in its magnificence the gems and art treasures of conquered Asia. The diamond, however, does not appear. Art evidently had not then acquired the process by which the natural and rough crystal is developed into a gem of sparkling and lustrous beauty. And the selected brides, to enhance their natural charms, wore pearls, emeralds, rubies, and turquoises wreathed among their tresses of hair, or in their necklaces, amulets, anklets, and bracelets. ”

“ In vain would the vanquished monarch strive to remove his bags of gold, or transport his territorial domains; but a diamond is an empire made portable, with which he might purchase a better kingdom, and mount a prouder throne. Had the treasure of Crœsus been invested in brilliants he might have founded a nobler Lydia beyond the reach of his Persian invader. ”

“ We will consider first the diamond, not because we regard it the foremost in interest among minerals, but because it is to-day reckoned commercially, as it was in the time of the Latin philosopher, Pliny, nearly two thousand years ago, “Maximum in rebus humanis,”—“The most costly of human possessions.” But we must, however, slightly modify the remark, and now apply it to the rare colored varieties of the gem, since commerce and refined taste rank the red sapphire far above the colorless diamond in value, and sometimes even the emerald and rare blue sapphires exceed it in price. ”

“ Every mineralogist and man of science will rejoice to learn that Queen Victoria exhibits sterling good sense in selecting the opal among her choicest family gifts, thereby presenting a pleasing contrast to the superstitious and foolish fancies of the Empress Eugénie.
To the amateur who loves the rare and beautiful, with a feeling untrammelled by any of the misty traditions of the past or the caprices of fashion of the present, the opal is the dearest of all the gems. ”

“ One hand of each nobleman was without a glove; on it was the splendid ring on which the arms of his family were engraved,—the mark, as in ancient Rome, of the equestrian order,—another proof of the intimate connection [Pg 135] between the race, the customs, the traditions of the Northern tribes, and the founders of the Eternal City.” But nothing in this rivalry of magnificence could equal the splendor of their arms: double poniards, double scimetars set with brilliants; bucklers of costly workmanship; battle-axes enriched in silver and glittering with emeralds and sapphires. ”