The largest of all the undoubted Diamonds is that mentioned by Tavernier as in the possession of the Grand Mogul. In form and size it resembles half a hen’s egg: its weight, according to the testimony of the same traveller, (a jeweller by profession and who himself weighed it,) is 297 carats, or, 156 carats being equal to a troy ounce, 860 grains. It was found about the year 1550 in the mine of Colore, not far to the east of Golconda.
An oriental Diamond formerly belonging to Nadir Shah, Sultan of Persia, deserves the next place: it is without flaws or faults of any kind, and weighs 193 carats. Its form is that of a flattened ovoid, and it is about the size of a pigeon’s egg.
The next in size is a rough Brasilian Diamond, found in the river Abatio in, possession of the Prince Regent of Portugal weighing near an ounce troy.
The Pitt or Regent Diamond, is said to, have been found in Malacca, It was purchased by Mr. Pitt, an English gentleman, then Governor of Bencoolen in Sumatra, and was sold by him to the Regent Duke of Orleans by whom it was placed among the crown jewels of France, and of which it still forms the great glory. It is cut in the form of a brilliant, and is absolutely faultless. It weighs 136 carats, and its value as estimated by a commission of jewellers in the year 1791, is twelve millions of livres.
Perhaps one of the largest and most beautiful coloured Diamonds is a rich sky-blue brilliant, belonging to the crown jewels of France: it weighs 67 carats, and is estimated at three millions of livres.
In this list I have not enumerated the supposed great Diamond of Portugal, because it is now the general opinion, both of mineralogists and jewellers, that this stone is a white topaz. It was found in Brazil, in the Diamond mines, is as yet in its rough state, and weighs 1680 carats, above eleven ounces.
