This splendid stone was discovered in 1701 at the famous diamond mines at Partial, on the Kistna, about 150 miles (240 km.) from Golconda, and weighed as much as 410 carats in the rough. By devious ways it came into the hands of Jamchund, a Parsee merchant, from whom it was purchased by William Pitt, governor of Fort St. George, Madras, for £20,400. On his return to England Pitt had it cut into a perfect brilliant (Fig. 63), weighing 163⅞ carats, the operation occupying the space of two years and costing £5000; more than £7000 is said to have been realized from the sale of the fragments left over. Pitt had an uneasy time and lived in constant dread of theft of the stone until, in 1717, after lengthy negotiations, he parted with it to the Duc d’Orléans, Regent of France, for the immense sum of three and three-quarter million francs, about £135,000. With the remainder of the French regalia it was stolen from the Garde-meuble on August 17, 1792, in the early days of the French Revolution, but was eventually restored by the thieves, doubtless because of the impossibility of disposing of such a stone, at least intact, and it is now exhibited in the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre at Paris. It measures about 30 millimetres in length, 25 in width, and 19 in depth, and is valued at £480,000.
(3) Orloff
Fig. 65.—Orloff (top view).
Fig. 66.—Orloff (side view).
One of the finest diamonds existing, this large stone forms the top of the imperial sceptre of Russia. It is rose-cut (Fig. 65), the base being a cleavage face, and weighs 194¾ carats. It is said to have formed at one time one of the eyes of a statue of Brahma which stood in a temple on the island of Sheringham in the Cavery River, near Trichinopoli, in Mysore, and to have been stolen by a French soldier who had somehow persuaded the priests to appoint him guardian of the temple. He sold it for £2000 to the captain of an English ship, who disposed of it to a Jewish dealer in London for £12,000. It changed hands to a Persian merchant, Raphael Khojeh, who eventually sold it to Prince Orloff for, so it is said, the immense sum of £90,000 and an annuity of £4000. It was presented by Prince Orloff to Catherine II of Russia.
(4) Great Mogul
This, the largest Indian diamond known, was found in the Kollur mines, about the year 1650. Its original weight is said to have been 787½ carats, but it was so full of flaws that the Venetian, Hortensio Borgis, then in India, in cutting it to a rose form reduced its weight to 240 carats. It was seen by Tavernier at the time of his visit to India, but it has since been quite lost sight of. It has been identified with both the Koh-i-nor and the Orloff, and it is even suggested that both these stones were cut from it.