Travels in India (Tavernier) 95.1

95.1

I do not mention diamonds below 3 carats, their price being sufficiently well known. It is first necessary to know what the diamond weighs, and next to see if it is perfect, whether it is a thick stone, square-shaped, and having all its angles perfect ; whether it is of a beautiful white water, and lively, without points, and without flaws. If it is a stone cut into facettes, which is ordinarily called “a rose,” it is necessary to observe whether the form is truly round or oval ; whether the stone is well-spread, and whether it is not one of those lumpy stones ; and, moreover, whether it is of uniform water, and is without points and flaws, as I described the thick stone. A stone of this quality, weighing 1 carat, is worth 150 livres or more, and supposing it is required to know the value of a stone of 12 carats of the same degree of perfection, this is how it is to be ascertained : — Square the 12, this amounts to 144 ; next multiply 144 by 150, i.e. the price of 1 carat, and it amounts to 21,600 livres — 12 x 12 x 150 = 21,600. This is the price of a diamond of 12 carats. But it is not enough to know the price of perfect diamonds only, one must know also the price of those which are not so; this is ascertained by the same rule, and on the basis of the price of a stone of 1 carat. This is an example —