THE STORY OF THE BLUE DIAMOND THAT BELONGED TO THE TSARS OF RUSSIA IS ENRICHED WITH A NEW CHAPTER

The elegant Parisian, who had received it from Tsar Nicholas II, had had to pledge the precious jewel to the Mont-de-Piété in Nice where the opposition of several creditors had held it for three years, but it has just been returned to its owner

Nice, June 21 (dep. Petit Parisien.) The famous blue diamond, which belonged to the imperial family of Russia and which, for nearly three years had been at the Mont-de-Piété in Nice, has just been removed from this establishment, where it had been placed by its current owner, Miss Suzanne Thuillier, better known under the name of Primerose. The precious jewel had been given to her, it is said, by Tsar Nicholas II himself, during one of his stays in Petrograd.

This jewel, unique in the world, weighing 43 carats, which adorned, many centuries ago, the forehead of a Buddha in a Hindu temple, became the principal jewel in the finery of an elegant Parisian woman; but a time came when Primerose, prey to financial worries, had to part with the famous blue diamond. She was given, at the pawnshop in Nice, a large sum, two hundred thousand francs, no doubt. It was a lot, for the time, and for the Nice establishment which, according to its regulations, cannot exceed a certain amount in its loans.

But it was little, compared to the value of the jewel for which an American once offered a million dollars. It served as security for other sums borrowed by its owner from creditors who opposed the release of the jewel for the sum owed to them, namely two million francs; but Primerose has managed, in recent times, to pay off some of her lenders. As for the others, she did not know their addresses and she has just obtained, before the president of the civil court, by way of summary proceedings, the lifting of the opposition, on the condition that she deposits the sums due in the hands of a sequestrator.

This is how the blue diamond was able to leave the pawnshop in Nice yesterday, and already a group of jewelers has offered the sum of ten million francs for the beautiful jewel. Will we see the imperial jewel with a thousand lights face the fire of the auction?