Sancy after a devastating defeat, James took shelter under Louis XIV of France, a fickle host who tired of his exiled guest. Facing destitution, James had no choice but to sell the Sancy to Cardinal Mazarin in 1657 for the reported sum of £25,000. The cardinal bequeathed the diamond to the king upon his death in 1661. The Sancy was thus domiciled in France but disappeared during the French Revolution when brigands raided the Garde Meuble (Royal Treasury). As well as the Sancy, other treasures stolen were the Regent diamond, and the French Blue diamond which is known today as the
Chastreix-Sancy on and between the Puy de Chabane and Mont Redon, on the west side of the Puy de Sancy, which is part of an ancient stratovolcano which has been dormant for 220,000 years. It is within the Parc naturel régional des volcans d'Auvergne and the commune of Chastreix in the Puy-de-Dôme "département" of the Auvergne "région". It is about 40 km south west of the "préfecture" of the Puy-de-Dôme "département" Clermont-Ferrand, also capital of the Auvergne. The resort is sandwiched between the Cirque de la Fontaine Salée to the south-east and the Val d'Enfer, or Valley of Hell in English,