Famous Regent diamond stolen from India — 1701
Once adorned the vast jewelry collections of French woman Marie Antoinette, the Regent of Indian origin, is one of the finest and purest diamonds in the world. Napoleon Bonaparte got it in 1801 and set it into his two edged sword in 1812 and it remained there till his death
Above image: The “Regent” diamond (140.64 carats) is believed to be one of the most perfectly cut diamonds since it took shape in the early 1700s. Pictured here is its replica made in cubic zirconia by Scott Sucher, which will be displayed with Marie Antoinette……..
The Regent Diamond is yet another valuable diamond of Indian origin that left the Indian shores centuries ago. The legend has it this wonderful large diamond (1701 AD) that deserved to be called a perfect diamond of beauty and brilliance was from one of the Kollur mines near the river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, southern India (mined in the Alluvial/placer deposits). It was stolen from there by a slave and when he was traveling on a ship, the diamond got the attention of the greedy English ship captain who killed the worker and took the diamond from him and sold it to an Indian merchant.
Above image: William Pitt claimed he acquired the diamond from the eminent Indian diamond merchant Jamchund for 48,000 pagodas in the same year — 1701( so it is sometimes also known as the Pitt Diamond). He secretly dispatched the stone to London hidden in the heel of his son Robert’s shoe aboard the ship — East India man Loyal Cooke, which left Madras on 9 October 1702. It was later cut in London by the diamond cutter Harris, between 1704 and 1706. The cutting took two years and cost about £5,000. The rumor mill worked overtime and went around that Pitt had fraudulently acquired the diamond leading satirist Alexander Pope to pen some lines in his Moral Essays (wikipedia) ……...
Governor William Pitt (28 May 1759–23 January 1806) of the Madras Presidency under the East India company was a connoisseur of valuable gems and diamonds and a chanced meeting with the merchant helped Pitt acquire the diamond in 1701 for 20,400.00 pounds. The diamond was further cut to size in London from 410 to 136 14/16 carats, and the portions detached in the cuttings remained the property of the owner.
Careful cutting occupied two years and cost ran into £5,000.00. As an investor, and profit- minded Pitt finally managed to sell it to Philippe II, Duke of Orleans, then the Regent of France, in 1717 for 135,000.00 pounds. It was set in a Crown for the Coronation crown for Louis XV and then in another crown for Louis XVI in 1775. Later it adorned the vast jewelry collections of Marie Antoinette. Briefly stolen at the time of the French revolution 1792, Napoleon Bonaparte got it in 1801 and set it into his two edged sword in 1812 and it remained there till his death. The diamond was used as security on several occasions by the Directoire and later the Consular to finance the military expenses when the French were hard-pressed for money.
Above image: The Regent Diamond, that adorned the crown of Louis XV and then that of Louis XVI, along with other crown jewels in a fantastic site from the of the Louvre museum dedicated to the Apollo Galler.
This historical diamond mined in Guntur district, A.P, India is interwoven with India’s glorious past and workmanship of European diamond cutters of yore. After a short trip to Austria and then back to France, this diamond was then set in a Greek style Diadem crown for Empress Eugenie where it remains today.
Being an object of nature’s superb beauty and curiosity, and considering its whitish color with blue tint, it was not disposed of with the other crown jewels, but has remained up to the present time as one of the most beautiful and valuable of the royal jewels belonging to the French nation. Presently it is on display in the Louvre Museum, Paris. This cushion style cut diamond of Indian origin measures 140.6 carats and is considered to be one of the finest and purest diamonds in the world with far less impurities; in 2015 its worth was £48,000,000.
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent_Diamond
Originally published at http://navrangindia.blogspot.com. (modified: 21 June 2020)
