Famous Regent diamond stolen from India 1701

Navrang India December 23, 2014

   The Regent Diamond from Kollur mines, Andhra,India.gemology.knoji.com

Among the world famous diamonds looted from India the Regent Diamond was a large one  known for its  dazzling beauty, color and clarity. 

 The Regent Diamond-the legend has it this wonderful  large diamond (1701AD)  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.  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.



The Regent Diamond, from Kollur mines, India.heartsonfire.com



 Governor William Pitt 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 to 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 who acquired it 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.


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. The diamond  of Indian origin measures 140.6 carats and is a cushion style cut. 
 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.