Current weight: 140.64 carats
Cut: Cushion brilliant
Colour: D (colourless equivalent), Type IIa
Clarity: Internally Flawless equivalent
Origin: Golconda region, India (Partial mine, Krishna River area, c.1698)
Original rough weight: approximately 410 carats
Acquired by France: 1717 (Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France, purchased from Thomas Pitt for £135,000)
Current location: Louvre Museum, Paris, Apollo Gallery, on public display since 1887
Sources: Louvre Museum official documentation, louvre.fr; Balfour, I. (1987), Famous Diamonds, Christie's Publications
From India to France: Thomas Pitt and the Duke of Orléans
Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras (grandfather of the British Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder), purchased the rough diamond in 1701 from a local diamond dealer in India. He sent it to London, where it was cut over approximately two years at a cost of £5,000 by cutter Joseph Cope, reducing it from approximately 410 carats rough to 140.64 carats polished, and producing a number of smaller stones from the cuttings, including a fine stone later known as the Pitt Diamond that was also purchased by French royalty (Balfour, 1987, op. cit., pp. 116–118).
In 1717, Pitt sold the cut stone to Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, who was serving as Regent of France for the young Louis XV. The purchase price of approximately £135,000 (the exact figure varies slightly in historical sources) was extraordinary, one of the largest sums ever paid for a gemstone at the time. The Duke gave the diamond its name: the Regent (Louvre Museum documentation, louvre.fr; Balfour, 1987).
The French Royal court: Louis XV to Napoleon
The Regent was set into the crown of Louis XV for his coronation in 1722 and remained in the French Crown Jewels for over 150 years. It was worn by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at Versailles. During the French Revolution, it was among the Crown Jewels stolen from the Garde-Meuble in 1792 (the same theft that may have removed the Hope Diamond from French possession) but was subsequently recovered, hidden in a Paris attic (Louvre Museum documentation; Kurin, 2006, op. cit.).
Napoleon Bonaparte had the Regent set into the pommel of his sword for his coronation as Emperor in 1804. It was subsequently set into the hilt of his épée de sacre and appears in the coronation portrait by Jacques-Louis David now displayed at the Louvre. After Napoleon's exile, the stone returned to the French Crown Jewels and was eventually transferred to the Louvre in 1887 when the Third Republic auctioned most of the Crown Jewels, the Regent being one of the few pieces retained for the national collection (Louvre Museum official documentation, louvre.fr; Balfour, 1987, op. cit., pp. 118–122).
The Regent at the Louvre
The Regent has been on continuous public display in the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre since 1887. The Apollo Gallery houses a significant portion of the French national gem and decorative arts collection. The Regent is the centrepiece of the gem display and is considered one of the Louvre's most historically significant objects. Admission to the Louvre is required; the Apollo Gallery is in the Denon Wing (Louvre Museum, louvre.fr).
Primary sources
Louvre Museum official documentation. louvre.fr. [Regent Diamond: current location (Apollo Gallery), 140.64ct, cushion brilliant, on display since 1887. French Crown Jewels history, Napoleon's coronation use, 1792 theft and recovery.]
Balfour, I. (1987). Famous Diamonds. Christie's Publications, London, pp. 116–122. [Thomas Pitt acquisition (1701), cutting in London (approximately 2 years, £5,000), sale to Philippe II (1717, £135,000), Louis XV coronation (1722), Napoleon's coronation sword (1804).]