When the Louvre thieves missed grabbing the diamonds from Golconda

Behind every diamond sale or theft in the world, there is a connection to Telangana’s Golconda. And so it is with the latest heist in Paris at the Louvre, considered one of the most secure art museums of the world.

On Sunday morning (October 19), thieves rode up a vehicle mounted electric ladder, cut the glass panes, reached the display of the Galerie d’Apollon and escaped within seven minutes. The gallery is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Among the eight items listed as stolen by the French Culture Ministry is a crown from the collection of Queen Marie-Amelie and later the Dutch Queen Hortense.

What the thieves missed were the real storied gems from India. More precisely, called Golconda diamonds, mined in Kollur and Paritala region of the kingdoms that were controlled from Hyderabad. “They also missed the Regent diamond, valued by Sotheby’s at more than US$60m (£45m),” wrote one social media user as information about the robbery spread.

The Pitt Regent, a 140.5 carat diamond is considered one of the most brilliant among the large diamonds that are known to exist. The much more fabled Kohinoor is now a 105.6 carat gem on display in London.

While the history of the Kohinoor diamond has a few missing pages, the Pitt Regent has a continuous history from 1701 onwards when it made its appearance in colonial Madras where the Governor was Thomas Pitt.

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Apparently found by a miner in Paritala in present day Andhra Pradesh, the rough gem was 426 carats. The miner reportedly made an incision in his leg to smuggle the diamond to Madras. There, he tried to sell it to a British sailor who promised him money and escape from the place but instead took the diamond and threw the miner overboard.

The sailor then sold the uncut stone to Ramchand and bought it for 48000 pagodas (gold coins from Golconda kingdom) or about £20,000. After it was cut and polished, Pitt sold it to the French Regent for £1,35,000 Pounds. For a brief period during the French Revolution, it disappeared before being recovered. Napoleon Bonaparte had it encrusted in a sword and posed for a painting. The diamond finally reached the Louvre in 1887 and has survived the latest heist.

Another diamond from Golconda left behind by the thieves is the Hortensia. A 20.53 carat orange pink purchased by Louis XIV from an unknown dealer. It was also stolen during the French revolution from the Royal Treasury in 1792. It was recovered and worn by Napoleon 1 and later by Hortense de Beauharnais, queen of Holland. It was stolen again in 1830.

The Sancy is another storied gem not picked up by the Parisian thieves. A 55-carat double rose cut diamond that began its journey as Sancy after it was purchased by Nicholas Sancy, the French Ambassador in Ottoman court in 1570. The Sancy is perhaps the only jewel that returned to India when it was purchased by Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, but it was back during the Paris Exposition of 1867 in a glass casing. Then, like all fabled diamonds, it disappeared for decades. It was purchased by the Louvre in 1978.

Now, as policemen search for the missing jewels from the Louvre, the diamonds from Golconda will get an extra layer of security and another chance to shine.