Golconda gem worth ₹526 crore left behind in Louvre robbery
HYDERABAD: Thieves who broke into the Louvre Museum earlier this week stole several priceless Napoleonic jewels but astonishingly left behind one of Europe’s most valuable gems — the Regent Diamond, estimated at $60 million (around ₹526 crore).
The stolen items, part of the French royal collection displayed in the Galerie d’Apollon, included nine pieces from the Napoleonic era. However, the 140.6-carat Regent Diamond, originally mined in India’s Golconda in 1698, was untouched, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed.
From Golconda to French royalty
The cushion-cut, faintly blue-green stone was unearthed in the Golconda mines and weighed 426 carats in its rough form. As legend has it, the miner who discovered it hid the gem in a leg wound to smuggle it out but was later killed by a ship captain he had trusted for help.
Thomas Pitt, then Governor of Madras, acquired the diamond and sent it to England for cutting between 1704 and 1706. It was later purchased in 1717 by France’s Regent Philippe d’Orléans and soon became part of the French royal treasury.
Jewel of kings and emperors
Louis XV wore the Regent Diamond in his crown at his 1722 coronation and often adorned it on his hat. Louis XVI followed the tradition, mounting it in his crown in 1775. After being stolen during the French Revolution in 1792 and recovered the next year, the diamond was set in the hilt of Napoleon Bonaparte’s sword in 1812.
It later featured in the crowns of Louis XVIII, Charles X, and Napoleon III and was finally placed in the diadem of Empress Eugénie. Since 1887, it has remained on display at the Louvre.
Talk of a curse
Investigators remain unsure why the Regent Diamond was spared. “It is unclear why they left it behind,” Beccuau said. French media have revived theories that the gem carries a curse, noting the grim fates of several owners — the murdered miner, the executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon’s death in exile on Saint Helena.
Another Golconda gem spared
The burglars also ignored the 21.32-carat pink Hortensia Diamond, another Golconda-origin stone once owned by Louis XIV. Both diamonds, now housed in the Galerie d’Apollon, continue to draw global attention as the Louvre tightens security amid the ongoing investigation.
