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Regent Diamond |
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| The adventurous
history of the Regent is very much like that of several
other great diamonds. Greed, murder and remorse play a
part in the opening chapter. Trouble - political, social,
and personal - accompanies this gem to it's last resting
place. Originally known as the Pitt, this 410-carat stone
was one of the last large diamonds to be found in India.
It is said to have been discovered by a slave in the Parteal
Mines (also spelled 'Partial') on the Kistna River about
1701. 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 took th diamond. After selling
it to an Indian diamond merchant named Jamchund for about
$5000, the captain squandered the proceeds in dissipation
and, in a fit of remorse and delirium tremens, hanged
himself. |
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| In 1702,
Jamchund sold the stone for about $100,000 to Governor
Thomas Pitt of Ft. George, Madras, who was the grandfather
of William Pitt of American Revolutionary fame.
Known to historians as the "Elder Pitt,"
William was the British Prime Minister for whom
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was named. He sent it
to England and had it fashioned into a 140.50 carat
cushion-shaped brilliant cut, measuring approximately
32mm × 34mm × 25mm. 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. |
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The Regent
Diamond's facet pattern, from Gemcad. This design was
originally
created by R.H., Long & Steele, but was missing the
'needle' pavilion facets
as well as the vertically split star facets on the crown.
British gemologist
Michael Hing altered the design to be more accurate, adding
the missing facets.
This image is a few screengrabs from the stone's Gemcad
file. If you'd like a
copy of the Gemcad file, please email me. Mr. Hing has
personally handled a number
of large diamonds, among them the Hortensia, Sancy, Mouna
and Tiffany Yellow. |
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If you'd
like a Gemcad file of this stone, please visit the United
States Faceters Guild Yahoo Group.
It takes about 1 minute to join if you already have a
Yahoo screen name. |
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| 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 Crown of Louis XV and worn at his coronation in February,
1723. Removed from the crown, it was worn by Queen Marie
Leczinska in her hair. Two generations later, when the
French Crown Jewels were adorned the Royal Family in many
different kinds of personal ornaments, Marie Antoinette
used the Regent to adorn a large black-velvet hat. |
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| The coveted
gem disappeared, together with the equally famous Sancy
and French Blue (from which the Hope was cut), when the
Garde Meuble (Royal Treasury) was robbed of it's fabulous
jewels in 1792, during the early part of the Revolution.
Some of the gems were soon recovered, but the Regent could
not at first be traced. After fifteen months, however,
it was found, having been secreted in a hole under the
timberwork of a Paris garret. |
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| In 1797,
the great gem was pledged for money that helped Napolean
in his ride to power. He had in mounted in the hilt of
his sword that he carried at his coronation in 1804. When
Napolean 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 it again became part
of the French Crown Jewels. |
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| In 1825,
Charles X wore the Regent at his coronation; it remained
in the Royal Crown until the time of Napolean III. Then,
a place was made for it in a Greek diadem designed for
Empress Eugenie. |
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Many
of the French Crown Jewels were sold at auction in 1887,
but the Regent was reserved from the sale and exhibited
at the Louvre amoung the national treasures. In 1940,
when the Germans invaded Paris, it was sent to the chateau
country, this time to Chambord, where it was secreted
behind a stone panel. After the War, it was returned
to Paris and put on display in the Apollon Gallery of
the Louvre Museum. It was one of the features of the
Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition at the Museum
in 1962. An alternate name sometimes used is the Millionaire
Diamond. Source: DIAMONDS - Famous, Notable and Unique
(GIA) |
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