Briolette of India
colorless diamond found in India
The Briolette of India is a colorless diamond (weighing 90.38 carats (18.076 g)) that was found in India. It is cut in a briolette shape, and is a D-coloured (colourless) type IIa diamond. Its history was thought to date from the 12th century, when it was first acquired by Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Queen consort of King Louis VII of France between 1137 and 1152. This makes the Briolette of India the oldest diamond on record in the world, even older than the famous Koh-i-Noor.
The diamond was in the possession of several famous historical figures such as King Richard the Lionheart, who carried it with him to the Third Crusade, and King Henry II of France who presented it to his mistress Diane de Poitiers.
The Briolette of India has disappeared from records for long periods, sometimes even for several centuries, before resurfacing again. It was last owned by Austrian heiress Heidi Horten, until auctioned by Christie's in June 2023 where it sold for 6.6 million Swiss Francs. Its current ownership has not been publicly stated.
Early history
Modern reports of the diamond's history speculate that it dates to the 12th century, when it is said to have first been acquired and brought to England by Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen consort of King Louis VII of France. If Eleanor of Acquitaine did come into possession of the diamond, it was probably between 1137 and 1152, which would make the Briolette of India the oldest diamond on record.
“Briolette of India” enters the record as colorless diamond found in India. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Briolette, India and colorless can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3644833. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1137, 1152 and 2023.
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This entry incorporates text from “Briolette of India” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.