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In 1698, a
slave found the 410 carat (82 g) uncut diamond in a Golconda mine, more
specifically Paritala-Kollur Mine in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The
slave stole the enormous rough concealing it in bandages of a self-inflicted
leg wound, and fled to the seacoast.
There, he
divulged his secret to an English sea captain, offering him half the value of
the stone in return for safe passage to a free country. But during the voyage
to Bombay, temptation overcame this seafaring man and he murdered the slave
and took the diamond. After
selling it to an Indian diamond merchant named Jamchund for about $5000, the
captain squandered the proceeds and, in a fit of remorse and delirium
tremens, hanged himself. In 1702, Jamchund sold the stone for about $100,000
to Governor Thomas Pitt. He claimed to pay 20,400£ for it and the
cutting took two years and cost about $25,000, but a number of smaller stones
brought more than $35,000; some of these were rose-cut stones that were sold
to Peter the Great of Russia. The principal gem, which has but one very small
imperfection, is today considered one of the finest and most brilliant of the
known large diamonds.
The diamond was
cut in a 141 carats (28 g) cushion brilliant. After many attempts
to sell it to various European royalty, including Louis XIV of France, it was
sold it to the French Prince, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans in 1717 for
£135,000 from which it gets the name Regent.
The royals used
the stone in many ways including being set in the crown of Louis XV for his
coronation in 1722, in a new crown for the coronation of Louis XVI in 1775,
and as an adornment in the hat of Marie Antoinette. In 1791 its appraised
value was £480,000.
In 1792 during
the revolutionary furor in Paris, "Le Régent," was stolen
along with the Hope and the Sancy. It was recovered a year later. When
Napoleon Bonaparte came to power it was mounted in the hilt of his sword and
after his downfall in 1814, the stone travelled around quite a lot.
Napoleon's wife, Marie Louisa, carried the Regent back to Austria upon his
death. Later her father returned it to the French Crown Jewels by 1824. The
Regent was worn at the coronation of Charles X. The diamond was mounted successively
on the crowns of Louis XVIII, Charles X and Napoleon III.
It was
fortunate for this diamond not have been sold with many other
stones in France and having survived the Second World War hidden behind a
stone in a chateau at Chambord.
Today, The Regent is mounted in a Greek diadem designed for Empress
Eugenie, it remains in the French Royal Treasury at the Louvre where it has
been on display there since 1887.
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