The Excelsior and the Regent

Until its sun was eclipsed by the revelation of the Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond which the earth has given to man was the Excelsior, which was ultimately named the Jubilee in honour of the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the accession of the late Queen Victoria. The Excelsior-Jubilee was discovered in the Jagersfontein mine in the Orange River Colony, June 30, 1893. The lucky Kaffir who discovered it was rewarded with about $2500 in money, and a horse equipped with a saddle and bridle. The rough stone weighed 971 3/4 carats, measured two and one-half inches in length, two inches in breadth, and one inch in thickness. Like the Cullinan Diamond, its predecessor had a fault that prevented its becoming a single gem; this was a black spot in the centre which made it necessary to cleave it, as the Cullinan was cleaved. The larger portion was cut into an absolutely perfect brilliant, weighing 239 international carats of 205 milligrams and measuring one and five-eighths inches in length, one and three-eighths in breadth, and one inch in depth. The Excelsior-Jubilee is a blue-white stone of the purest water and in all its qualities approximates perfection. This diamond's predecessor in holding the world's record for weight and size, in the rough, was the "Great Mogul" which is supposed to have weighed 787 1/2 carats. The history of this stone is obscure and so tainted with tradition that the references to it in the various stories of the great diamonds of the world are of doubtful authority.

The romance of gem history is well illustrated by the accepted account of that acme of fine diamond qualities, the Regent or Pitt diamond. Mr. Ludwig Nissen, a New York authority on gems and who talks and writes in an interesting way about them, offers the following narrative as authentic:

The Pitt Diamond, afterward called the "Regent," was found by a slave in the Parteal mines, on the Kistua in India, in the year 1701. The story goes that, to secure his treasure, he cut a hole in the calf of his leg and concealed it, one account says in the wound itself, another in the bandages. As the stone weighed 410 carats before it was cut, the last version of the method of concealment is, no doubt, the correct one. The slave escaped with his property to the coast. Unfortunately for himself, and also for the peace of mind of his confidant, he met an English skipper whom he trusted with his secret. It is said he offered the diamond to the mariner in return for his liberty, which was to be secured by the skipper carrying him to a free country. But it seems probable that he supplemented this with a money condition as well, otherwise the skipper's treatment of the poor creature is as devoid of reason as it is of humanity. The English skipper, professing to accept the slave's proposals, took him on board his ship, and having obtained possession of the gem, flung the slave into the sea. He afterwards sold the diamond to a prominent dealer for a thousand pounds sterling, squandered the money in dissipation, and finally, in a fit of delirium tremens and remorse, hanged himself.

The dealer sold it in February, 1702, to Thomas Pitt, Governor of Fort St. George, and great-grandfather of the illustrious English statesman, William Pitt, for the sum of pound20,400. Pitt had the stone cut and polished at a cost of pound5000, but the cleavage and dust obtained in the cutting returned to him the handsome sum of pound15,000. In 1717 he sold it to the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, during the minority of King Louis XV., for the sum of pound135,000; so that he must have netted a profit of nearly pound125,000 on his venture.

Later, in the inventory of the French crown jewels, drawn up in 1791, it was valued at 12,000,000 francs, or $2,400,000. Soon afterwards, during the "Paris Commune," it was, with other valuable jewels, stolen and buried in a ditch to prevent its recovery. One of the robbers, however, on a promise of a full pardon, later revealed its hiding-place, and it was found. All of the criminals were sent to the scaffold, except the one who had turned informer.

The recovery of the "Regent" is claimed to have helped to put the first Napoleon upon the throne of France, by having enabled him, through pledging it to the Dutch government, to raise sufficient funds to make a success of the Marengo campaign. Since its redemption from the Dutch government it has served as an ornament in the pommel of the First Emperor's sword, and has ever been the most conspicuous gem of the crown jewels of France. It now quietly rests to meet the wondering eyes of the world's tourists in the Galerie d'Apollon in the Louvre, Paris.

Though a rich and valuable treasure, the "Pitt" or "Regent" has unquestionably been the cause of more misery than joy. It sent the first dishonest holder to a watery grave, the second to the rope, and the third, which consisted of several, to the guillotine; though it also restored the fortunes of an ancient English family, which subsequently gave to England her most distinguished statesman, and is said to have helped in the creation of an empire and in the making of one of the world's most famous characters.