the human wearer rather than any true supernatural powers. However, what are we to make of the ring worn by Charles XII of Sweden? This Scandinavian monarch ruled an empire built around the Baltic Sea and was one of Russia's most implacable foes. Author Brad Steiger notes in his book Atlantis Rising (Dell, 1976) that the Swedish king's rise to power had apparently been aided an abetted by his dealings with a "little grey man" who had given him a ring that would vanish on the day of Charles' death. The monarch appears to have gladly accepted this gift and embarked on his military career. In the heat of battle, shortly after one of his officers noted that the ring had vanished from his fingers, the monarch receiveda mortal wound.

Emeralds held a particular fascination for the infamous Emperor Nero, according to the historian Pliny, who wrote that the lyre-strumming despot owned a flat, nameless specimen imbued with supernatural powers, which he even used as a magnifying glass. While antiquity was fascinated by colored stones like sapphires and rubies, diamonds acquired importance in more recent centuries--some of them having names and histories as bizarre as any fictional object, and the Hope, Star of India and Kolhinoor diamonds have been featured on silver screen.

The Regent diamond is one of the more fascinating ones. A slave in an Indian mine found the precious stone sometime during the 1600's and escaped bondage, only to be slain by a sailor to whom he had shown the diamond. The sailor took