The Indians were the first to polish a diamond with its own dust, but their cutting only consisted in burnishing the original facets or concealing defects by a number of new and smaller ones. Louis van Berghem is credited with being the first to cut and polish diamonds with their own dust in 1456, but both Emanuel and King refer to four large diamonds which adorned the clasp of the Emperor Charlemagne 1373, and to numerous cut specimens of older date set in church monuments. Emanuel mentions the skillful Herman who worked in the year 1407. Towards the end of the 16th Century, Peruzzi invented the double cutting known as “Brillants recoupes,” and of late years the modern cutters have reached a high degree of artistic excellence, producing the most beautifully cut specimens the world has seen. Clement Birago and Jacopo da Trezzo were the first to engrave upon the diamond, and both “enriched in the service of Philip II.” In giving the Papal Sacred Banner and Blessing to William of Normandy when about to invade England after the excommunication of Harold, Pope Hildebrand sent a diamond ring, said to enclose a hair from the head of Peter the Apostle. In the Comtesse d’Anois’ pretty fairy story, “The Yellow Dwarf,” the mermaid gives the captive King an all-conquering sword made from a single diamond, which rendered invincible anyone who carried it. The diamond is astrologically under the sign of the Sun Leo, and has power especially in Aries and Libra. To dream of diamonds was considered symbolical of success, wealth, happiness and victory, and its reputed power of binding man and woman together in happy wedlock has made it a favourite stone for engagement rings, and in some countries for wedding rings. BORT or BOART is the name applied to imperfect greyish or blackish specimens which are powdered and used for cutting and polishing diamonds and hard gems, among other purposes. CHAPTER XVII SOME FAMOUS AND WONDERFUL DIAMONDS AND THEIR STORIES THE KOH-I-NOOR: PITT OR REGENT: THE ORLOFF: THE SANCY: THE BLUE HOPE: THE PAUL THE FIRST: THE DRESDEN: THE NIZAM: THE CUMBERLAND: THE NAPOLEON: THE EUGENIE: THE POLAR STAR: THE SHAH: THE MOON OF THE MOUNTAINS: AKBAR SHAH, OR THE SHEPHERD’S STONE: THE RIVER OF LIGHT: THE GRAND MOGUL: THE GRAND TABLE: THE NASSAK: THE PIGOTT: THE PACHA: THE TUSCANY: THE STAR OF ESTE: THE WHITE SAXON: THE GREAT WHITE: THE MATTAM: THE STAR OF THE SOUTH: THE ENGLISH DRESDEN: THE DE BEERS DIAMONDS: THE STAR OF SOUTH AFRICA: THE JUBILEE: THE STAR OF AFRICA OR THE CULLINAN: THE BRAGANZA: THE TIFFANY: STAR OF MINAS: THE ARABIAN “DEATH”: THE MOONSTONE. “_Jewels Of rich and exquisite form: their value great._” SHAKESPEARE. THE KOH-I-NOOR