New South Wales, Australia, and in New Zealand.  Its use in gem-mountings began about 1870, and from 1880 onward it has become more and more favored, until now it has almost entirely superseded gold in the finest jewelry, especially for diamond settings.  Long before the metal was known and used in Europe, ornamental use of it was made in South America, in the district we have mentioned, the material not being fused, but simply forged out of the nuggets found in the deposits.

That but few fine diamonds were in Europe when Shakespeare wrote has already been noted; indeed, the annual importation from India, then the only source, can hardly have exceeded $100,000 on an average, while at the present day the value of the diamonds from the great African mines imported into Europe and America amounts to from $40,000,000 to $60,000,000 each year.

In King James’s reign, besides Heriot, William Herrick (brother of Nicolas) and John Spilman were appointed jewellers to the king, queen, and prince, the annual emoluments being L50 annually.  It is stated that Herrick furnished jewels worth L36,000 to Queen Anne of Denmark.  Such of her many jewels as were to be found when she died are said to have been left to her son, later Charles I, and none to her daughter Elizabeth, later Queen of Bohemia and ancestress of many of the sovereigns of Europe, as well as of the present reigning house in England.  Unfortunately for her heir, a great part of the jewels had been embezzled, and could not be recovered, although models of many had been carefully preserved by William Herrick, who swore that the originals had been delivered to the queen.  Less notable jewellers of King James’s day were Philip Jacobson, Arnold Lulls, John Acton, and John Williams.  One of them, Arnold Lulls, has left a fine set of contemporary drawings representing jewels of the epoch; these are now to be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.  As an instance of the value of some of the jewels of his design, it is recorded that the sum of L1550 was paid for a diamond jewel with pearl pendants and two dozen buttons, furnished to the king to be bestowed upon the queen at the christening of the Princess Mary in 1605.[21]

[Illustration:  Diamond cutter’s shop, eighteenth century, in which the diamond-cutting mill is operated by “man-power”.  Published in the Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, by John Hinton, England, July, 1749]

[Footnote 21:  H. Clifford Smith, “Jewellery”, London, 1908, p. 302.]

While the jeweller’s art in England was still under the influence of foreign goldsmiths in Elizabeth’s time, it had to a considerable extent emancipated itself from foreign control in the latter part of her reign and in that of her successor.  In addition to George Heriot, whom we have just noticed, several others are well worthy of mention, such as Dericke Anthony, Affabel Partridge, Peter Trender, and Nicolas Herrick,[22] the father of the poet Robert Herrick, who makes many a telling use of the colors and charm of precious stones and pearls in his dainty poems.  To these must be added Sir John Spilman, of German birth, who made many jewels at the royal command.