In 1698, a slave found the 410 carat (82 g) uncut diamond in a Golkonda mine in India and concealed it inside of a large wound in his leg. An English sea captain, stole the diamond from the slave after killing him and sold it to an Indian merchant. Thomas Pitt acquired it from a merchant in Madras in 1701. The carat is a unit of mass used for gems, and equals 200 milligrams or 3. ... BIC pen cap, about 1 gram. ... Jewelers set diamonds in groups of similar colors. ... In order to best utilize a diamond gemstones superlative material properties, a number of different diamond cuts have been developed. ... Golconda is a ruined city and fortress 11 km west of the city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh state, India. ... The Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louvre) in Paris, France, is the largest, oldest, most important and famous art gallery and museum in the world. ... Golconda is a ruined city, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. ... Thomas Pitt Thomas Pitt (July 5, 1653 – April 28, 1726), born at Blandford Forum, Dorset, to a rector and his wife, was a British merchant involved in trade with India. ... Madras refers to: the Indian city of Chennai, formerly known as Madras, the former Indian state, now known as Tamil Nadu (Plural of Madra): Ancient people of Iranian affinites, who lived in northwest Panjab in the Uttarapatha division of ancient India. ...

Pitt bought the diamond for £20,400, and had it cut in to a 141-carat cushion brilliant. After many attempts to sell it to various European royalty, including Louis XIV of France, it was sold it to the French regent, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans in 1717 for £135,000. 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. Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... Philippe of Orléans Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, Philippe Charles (August 2, 1674 – December 2, 1723) called Duke of Chartres (1674–1701), and then Duke of Orléans (1701–1723) was Regent of France from 1715 to 1723. ... Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), called the Well-Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1715 to 1774. ... Louis XVI Louis XVI (August 23, 1754 - January 21, 1793), was King of France and Navarre from 1774 until 1791, and then King of the French in 1791-1792. ... Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria (born November 1755 – executed 16 October 1793) Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XVI and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. ...

In 1792 during the revolutionary furor in Paris, "Le Régent," as the diamond came to be known, was stolen along with other crown jewels of France, but was later recovered, after being hidden in some roof timbers. The diamond was used as security on several occasions by the Directoire and later the Consulat, before being permanently redeemed by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801. City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Region ÃŽle-de-France Department Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land area¹ 86. ... Crown Jewels of France, on display at the Louvre The French Crown Jewels were the crowns, orbs, diadems and jewels that were the symbol of royalty and which were worn by many Kings and Queens of France. ... The Directory (in French Directoire) held executive power in France from October 1795 until November 1799 - from the end of the Convention to the beginning of the Consulate. ... The Consulate was the government of France from 1799 to 1804—from the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire until the start of the Napoleonic Empire. ... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ...

Napoleon used it to embellish his sword, designed by the goldsmiths Odiot, Boutet and Nitot. In 1812 it appeared on the Emperor's two-edged sword, the work of Nitot. Napoleon's second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, carried the Régent back to Austria upon his death. Later her father returned it to the French Crown Jewels. The diamond was mounted successively on the crowns of Louis XVIII, Charles X and Napoleon III. Marie Louise (December 12, 1791 _ December 17, 1847) was the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress of The French. ... Crown Jewels of France, on display at the Louvre The French Crown Jewels were the crowns, orbs, diadems and jewels that were the symbol of royalty and which were worn by many Kings and Queens of France. ... Louis XVIII (November 17, 1755 - September 16, 1824) was King of France from 1814 (although he declared that he considered his reign to have begun in 1795) until his death in 1824. ... The name Charles X is used to refer to numerous persons in history: Kings: Charles X of France Charles X of Sweden This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (April 20, 1808 - January 9, 1873) was the son of King Louis Bonaparte and Queen Hortense de Beauharnais; both monarchs of the French puppet state, the Kingdom of Holland. ...

Today, mounted in a Greek diadem designed for Empress Eugenie, it remains in the French Royal Treasury at the Louvre. It has been on display there since 1887. Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina Palafox de Guzmán Portocarrero y Kirkpatrick, 9th Countess de Teba, aka Eugenia de Montijo (May 5, 1826 - July 11, 1920) was Empress of France (1853-1871). ... The Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louvre) in Paris, France, is the largest, oldest, most important and famous art gallery and museum in the world. ...

External references

• Official Louvre site
• Regent diamond history in "Great Diamonds of the Earth" by Edwin Streeter