By Ray Lundin – Gemologist
Diamonds have a long and fascinating history. They have been sought after for centuries because of their beauty, brilliance and hardness. The legends and history of the Regent Diamond is similar to the other great diamonds. Theft, greed, murder, personal, social and political troubles, and remorse involving a slave, a captain and many kings, queens and other high noble and political figures.
Originally known as the Pitt, this 410-carat stone was one of the last large diamonds found in India. It is said to have been discovered by a slave in a Golkonda mine, more specifically Paritala-Kollur Mine in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, about 1701. The slave stole the enormous rough diamond by 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 captain and he murdered the slave and took the diamond. After selling it to an Indian diamond merchant named Jamchund for about $5,000, the captain squandered the money. Then, filled with guilt and remorse, hanged himself.
In 1702, Gov. Thomas Pitt of Ft. George, Madras, who was the grandfather of William Pitt of American Revolutionary fame, heard that Jamchund was offering a large diamond for sale. Jamchund was asking a very high price for the stone. After many days of negotiations and the fact Jamchund needed to get back to his country, they agreed on a price of about $100,000. Pitt was so fearful of being robbed that he denied interviews and never let it be known beforehand the day he was coming to town, nor slept twice consecutively in the same house. The stone was handed down to Pitt who was the British Prime Minister for whom Pittsburgh, Pa., was named. He sent the diamond to England and had it fashioned into a 140.5-carat cushion shaped brilliant cut. 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.
In 1717, the gem was sold to Philip II, Duke of Orleans, then Regent of France, for about $650,000; since that time, it has been known as the Regent Diamond. It was set in the crown of Louis XV and worn at his coronation in 1722. Removed from the crown, it was worn by Queen Marie Leczinska in her hair. Marie Antoinette used the Regent to adorn a large black velvet hat. The gem disappeared, together with the equally famous Sancy and French Blue (from which the Hope Diamond was cut), when the Royal Treasury was robbed in 1792 during the French Revolution. Some of the gems were soon recovered, but the Regent was not found at first. After 15 months, however, it was found, having been hidden in a hole under the timberwork of a Paris attic.
In 1797, the great gem was pledged for money that helped Napoleon in his rise to power. He had it mounted in the hilt of his sword that he carried at his coronation in 1804. When Napoleon went into exile in Elba in 1814, Marie Louisa, his second wife, carried the Regent to the Chateau of Blois. Later, however, her father, Emperor Francis I of Austria, returned it to France and again became part of the French Crown Jewels. In 1825, Charles X wore the Regent as his coronation; it remained in the Royal Crown until the time of Napoleon III. Many of the French Crown Jewels were sold at auction in 1887, but the Regent was kept from the sale and exhibited at the Louvre among the national treasures. In 1940, when the Germans invaded Paris, it was again sent to the chateau country, this time to Chambord, where it was hidden behind a stone panel. After the war, it was returned to Paris and put on display in the Louvre Museum. It was one of the features of the Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition at the museum in 1962. A glass replica of the Regent Diamond can be seen at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
