Chapter VIII: The Greater Gems in the Jewel House

The Koh-i-Nur or Mountain of Light--Found in the diamond mines
of Golconda--Acquired by the Great Mogul Shah Jehan--The
Emperor Aurungzebe shows the diamond to Tavernier in 1665--By
right of conquest it passes to Nadir Shah, King of Persia,
1739--Betrayed by a lady of the harem--Nadir Shah being
murdered, Ahmed Shah, a soldier of fortune, secures the
diamond--He founds the Durānni Dynasty at Kabul and leaves
the stone to his heirs--Shah Shuja flees to Lahore taking
the Koh-i-Nur--Runjeet Singh seizes it as the price of his
hospitality--Runjeet Singh being conquered by the British
surrenders it to the East India Company--The Company presents
it to Queen Victoria, 1850--Valued then at £140,000--Originally
800 carats in weight--Recut under supervision of the Prince
Consort and the Duke of Wellington--Now in Queen Mary’s
Crown--The Black Prince’s Ruby--First came into British
possession in 1367--Worn by Henry V. in his helmet at
Agincourt--Its escape--Again saved from destruction during
the Commonwealth--Set in State Crown of Charles II.--The
Crown which Colonel Blood attempted to steal--The ruby found
in Parret’s pocket--The central ornament in the King’s State
Crown--Its size and appearance--The Star of Africa--The largest
diamond ever known--Weight when found about 1½ lbs.--Presented
by the Union Government of South Africa to Edward VII.--Divided
into four great brilliants--The largest portion at head of
the King’s sceptre--The second largest portion in the band of
the King’s State Crown--The two remaining portions in Queen
Mary’s Crown--The value of the Star of Africa--The Stuart
sapphire--Belonged to Charles II.--Descended to Cardinal York,
who bequeathed it to George III.--In the band of the King’s
State Crown--Its shape and size--Sapphire of St. Edward--On
the King’s State Crown--In the Coronation Ring of Edward the
Confessor--Its escape from the Commonwealth--Queen Elizabeth’s
pearls--Their possible history--In the King’s State Crown.

THE KOH-I-NUR

THIS, the most famous diamond in the world, had a long and tragic history before it became one of the Crown Jewels of England. The name Koh-i-Nur translated is the “Mountain of Light,” and the diamond was so named from its peculiar conical shape. To those who lived within sight of the Himalayan Mountains, their crests crowned with perpetual snow, the name was at once suggestive and suitable. The original shape of the stone when it first came into the possession of Queen Victoria may be seen from the model in the Jewel House.

The diamond was found in the mines of Golconda, in Southern India, and is first heard of when in the possession of the King of Golconda. By various intrigues and stratagems dear to the oriental heart, Shah Jehan, the Emperor of Delhi, obtained possession of the stone in about A.D. 1650. It was first seen by a European, the French traveller Tavernier, when in the possession of the Emperor Aurungzebe, a successor of Shah Jehan in A.D. 1665. The diamond remained at Delhi as the crowning jewel of the Great Moguls till A.D. 1739. In that year by right of conquest it fell to Nadir Shah, King of Persia. A curious story is told of the manner in which Nadir Shah obtained possession of the jewel. Having conquered Delhi and collected the booty which was due to a conqueror, the Koh-i-Nur, the existence of which was well known, failed to appear amongst it. Diligent search was made, but with no result. At last one of the ladies of the harem of Mahomed Shah, the King of Delhi, gave away the secret. She said that her liege lord always wore it concealed in the folds of his turban, and as an Indian rarely parts with his turban, even at night in cold weather, the stone, but for treachery, was fairly safe.

On hearing this news Nadir Shah invited Mahomed Shah to dinner, and instead of there and then killing him according to the ethics of the age, he took advantage of an interchange of courtesies, which no Eastern potentate without gross breach of manners could refuse. He proposed changing turbans with his guest. With such good grace as he could command the King of Delhi thus passed the great diamond to the King of Persia. Nadir Shah in due course returned to his own country bearing the Koh-i-Nur with him.

When Nadir Shah was murdered one of his bodyguard, an Afghan named Ahmed Shah, stole the great diamond and fled with it to Afghanistan. There he eventually became king and founded the Durānni dynasty. He was succeeded in 1772 by his son Taimur Shah, to whom also went the Koh-i-Nur. The next owner was Shah Shuja, another king of Kabul, who being deposed fled as a refugee to Lahore taking the diamond with him, and placed himself under the protection of the Maharajah Runjeet Singh. Runjeet Singh gladly gave the refugee asylum, but took possession of the priceless stone. With him it remained till 1849 when the British conquered the Punjab, and the stone fell to them by the fortune of war. It had here another curious adventure. The conquered province was being administered by five British officers, amongst whom was Sir John (afterwards Lord) Lawrence, on behalf of the East India Company which then owned India. The council of five debated what was to be done with the Koh-i-Nur and failing to come to a decision asked Sir John Lawrence to take charge of it till a decision was arrived at. Sir John wrapped it up in a piece of paper, put it into his waistcoat pocket and forgot all about it. Six weeks after, in the course of business, one of the members of the council remembered that no decision had been come to as to the disposal of the great diamond. After some discussion in which Sir John joined, it was decided to present the stone to Queen Victoria from the Army of the Punjab. Immediately the council was over, Sir John Lawrence mounted his horse, galloped home and summoned his body-servant. “About six weeks ago,” he said, “I brought home a piece of glass wrapped in a bit of paper and left it in my waistcoat pocket. What have you done with that piece of glass?” “I placed it, Sahib, just inside your dispatch case, and here it is.” For six weeks the priceless gem had lain at the top of an open dispatch case, in a house open day and night to the four winds!

Under the charge of Major Macheson the Koh-i-Nur travelled to England and was presented to Queen Victoria. When in the possession of Runjeet Singh the stone had been set in an armlet flanked by two large diamonds. This original setting, with models of the stones as then worn, is in the Jewel House, from which can be gathered the curious conical shape the Koh-i-Nur then had.

The tassels of the armlet end with large pearls, each surmounted by a ruby, all of considerable value, but eclipsed by the glory of the great stone. It was then valued at £140,000 intrinsically; but as in the case of the Black Prince’s ruby, a stone with such a history is indeed priceless.

When in possession of Shah Jehan the Koh-i-Nur was uncut and weighed nearly eight hundred carats. By the Emperor’s order, it was cut by a Venetian named Ortensio Borgio, but as the cutting was deemed unsuccessful Borgio was severely reprimanded and fined Rs. 10,000 (about £1,000). When brought to Europe the diamond weighed only one hundred and eighty-six and one-sixth carats. By the Prince Consort’s advice it was again cut down into the form of a brilliant by Messrs. Coster of Amsterdam. Though this cutting reduced the stone to one hundred and six and one-sixth carats in weight, its size was curiously enough increased, for the new base ran diagonally through the old stone.

As a brilliant it was set as a brooch and so worn by Queen Victoria, but in later reigns it has been set in the Queen’s crown, first in that of Queen Alexandra and now in that of Queen Mary. (See p. 23.)

THE BLACK PRINCE’S RUBY

The stone which is to the English of the greatest historic interest in the Jewel House is the Black Prince’s ruby, for it has belonged to the royal house since 1367. Its history before that date is unknown and may be of great antiquity, for it is pierced at one end, so as to be worn as a pendant, as often are gems of Oriental origin, and the Orient is exceedingly old.

The known history of the ruby commences with the King of Granada, in whose possession it was when it was coveted by Don Pedro, the King of Castille. That monarch took the direct road to possession by killing the owner and annexing the stone in the year 1367. In that same year a very signal service was performed for Don Pedro by an English force under the Black Prince at the battle of Nagera, near Vittoria. In gratitude Don Pedro presented the great ruby to the Black Prince, and in an early print he may be seen wearing it sewn to his cap above the coronet.

We next hear of the ruby as being worn by Henry V. in his coronetted helmet at the battle of Agincourt. During this battle a personal encounter took place between Henry V. and the Duc d’Alençon, in the course of which a sword-cut from the Duc hewed off a piece of the king’s coronet, but the great ruby remained unhurt and came victorious with its owner out of the battle.

The next great adventure of the ruby was after the execution of Charles I., when by order of Parliament all emblems of royalty were to be destroyed or sold. The “large ballas ruby, pierced and wrapt in paper,” and valued at £4, was bought by some unknown person who evidently gave or sold it back at the restoration, for we find it again in the state crown of Charles II. The setting of this crown (see p. 16), which was in the possession of the late Lord Amherst of Hackney, clearly shows the position and shape of the ruby, and in confirmation it was found in Parret’s pocket, when he and Colonel Blood were captured in their attempt to steal this same crown.

The ruby appears as the central ornament in the state crowns of Queen Victoria and Edward VII., and occupies the same position in the state crown of George V. now at the Tower.

The ruby is known as a ballas ruby and is of irregular drop-shape, about two inches in length and of proportionate width. Generally it may be described as being the size of a small hen’s egg. It has a highly polished surface, but is uncut and is backed with a gold setting, which darkens the stone and gives to it the colour of port wine. It was, as has been mentioned, originally pierced at one end, but this hole has been at a later date closed with a small ruby set in gold.

The question is often asked: “What is the value of this stone?” And the answer may safely be given that it is priceless, for no amount of money can buy it.

THE STAR OF AFRICA

The Star of Africa when found weighed 3,025 carats or roughly one and a half pounds. It was four inches long, two and a quarter inches broad, and two and a half inches deep. The base was perfectly flat and smooth as if cut with a knife, clearly demonstrating that the diamond, huge as it was, is only a portion of a still larger stone. It was found in the year 1905, in the Premier Mine, near Pretoria in South Africa, Mr. T. M. Cullinan being at that period one of the chief officials of the mine. Hence it was then, and is even now often spoken of as, the “Cullinan diamond.” It was bought by the Union Government of South Africa, and presented to Edward VII. to be added to the crown jewels of the empire. The rough diamond was cut into four great brilliants and many smaller ones, the work being entrusted to Amsterdam cutters. The largest portion is drop-shaped, weighs five hundred and sixteen and a half carats, and measures two and five-sixteenth inches in length, and one and thirteen-sixteenth at its broadest part, without doubt the largest diamond in the world. It is set in the head of the King’s sceptre. (See p. 27.) The second largest portion is nearly round in shape, being one and thirteen-sixteenth inches in length, and one and eleven-sixteenth inches in breadth, whilst its weight is three-hundred and nine and three-sixteenth carats. This portion of the Star of Africa is set in the band of the King’s State Crown, just below the Black Prince’s ruby.

The third and fourth portions of the Star of Africa are in Queen Mary’s Crown. The largest of these, which has a square appearance and weighs ninety-six carats, is set in the band of the crown just below the Koh-i-Nur. The fourth portion which is drop-shaped, and weighs sixty-four carats, is to be seen in the cross-patée on the top of the crown.

The value of a diamond of the size of the Star of Africa when first found is difficult to gauge, for above a certain size stones have a very restricted market. No one but a king or a queen could appropriately wear a diamond weighing a pound and a half, whilst few would care to possess an unusable jewel of this size. From this the curious result may be arrived at that a diamond or other precious stone can be so large as to be unsaleable at its true value.

THE STUART SAPPHIRE

The early history of this sapphire is somewhat obscure, though it probably belonged to Charles II., and was certainly amongst the royal jewels which James II. took with him when he fled to France. From him it passed to his son, Charles Edward, the Old Pretender, who bequeathed it to his son Henry Bentinck, known later as Cardinal York. The Stuart cause being dead Cardinal York left the sapphire with other Stuart relics to George III.

In Queen Victoria’s State Crown this fine jewel occupied a prominent position in the front of the band just below the Black Prince’s ruby. This pride of place it relinquished in favour of the great diamond, the Star of Africa, during the reign of Edward VII., and now occupies an exactly opposite setting at the back of the King’s State Crown. (See p. 20.)

The Stuart sapphire is oval in shape, about one and a half inches in length, by one inch in breadth, and is set in a gold brooch. It has one or two blemishes, but is of good colour, and was evidently deemed of high value by the Stuarts. At one end has been drilled a hole, probably to introduce some attachment by which the stone could be worn as a pendant.

SAPPHIRE OF ST. EDWARD

In the centre of the cross-patée on the top of the King’s State Crown is a sapphire with a very old English association, which may have an older world history than the Black Prince’s ruby, or the Koh-i-Nur. It is held to have been in the coronation ring of Edward the Confessor, who ascended the throne in 1042, twenty-four years before the Norman Conquest. How the stone and ring passed through the deplorable devastation of the Commonwealth is not clear, but a small article of this sort might easily escape unnoticed, hidden as was the Ampulla in Westminster Abbey, or concealed during the storm by some devoted adherent of the Stuarts. It was held in the old days to have the magic powers of curing the cramp, and no doubt did so, assisted by implicit faith and when applied by the King himself. Faith has performed more wonderful miracles.

From the present appearance of the stone and its cutting as a rose gem, it is judged that it was altered from its original shape and size in the reign of Charles II., much as we can judge of the exact period in which ancient stones were recut as brilliants by the date in which these processes were first introduced. This sapphire is a very fine stone of good colour and brilliancy, and, apart from its historic value, is a gem of more than ordinary merit.

QUEEN ELIZABETH’S EARRINGS

Hanging below the cross-patée in the King’s State Crown are four great pearls, drop-shaped. These by tradition were once the earrings of Queen Elizabeth. There is no definite record of the fact, nor on the other hand is there any evidence of their arrival in the crown from elsewhere. A careful scrutiny has been made of such bills as exist, submitted by the court jewellers in succeeding reigns, and no record can be found of the provision of these four large and manifestly very costly pearls. Though therefore it is impossible to definitely state that they once belonged to Queen Elizabeth, it may be permissible to accede to a long standing Tower tradition, and allow that this is a probability. Being small and portable they, like the Ampulla and Spoon, and Edward the Confessors’ sapphire, may easily have been escaped through the period of the Commonwealth, and with the Black Prince’s ruby have again come into the hands of royalty. Historically impossible to verify, traditionally these four great pearls belonged to the Great Queen, and we of this generation are prepared to accept them on trust.