It is a 20 carat diamond of pale orange-pink colour, cut into a five-sided shape, and with a "feather" (a fine visible crack) running from its tip to its girdle.

It was recovered from an attic in the Parisian district of Les Halles in a bag together with other crown jewels, among them the Regent Diamond.

An apocryphal account states that its location was given up in the confession of a man shortly before his execution.

Notably Hortense never owned the diamond or even wore it, and it remains a matter of speculation why it was named for her.

Around 1856, the diamond was set into a headband for the wife of Napoleon III, Empress Eugénie, by court jeweller Christophe-Frédéric Bapst.