(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
Perhaps the most detailed reference to the existence and use of large V-Cut Roses is in the description of the ceremonial sword which Louis XVI of France commissioned in 1784. The sword itself disappeared in 1792, when the Crown Jewels were stolen, and illustration of it, other than of the original design, have survived. However, a great deal of information can be gleaned from the French Crown inventories and other official records.
The six largest V-Cut Roses weighed an average of 10 ct each. The gems came into the possession of the Treasury in the mid-seventeenth century, and in 1691 were described as ‘spread’ and ‘overspread’ (a facettes d’étendue and de toute étendue). They were not considered worth recutting when the rest of the obsolete cuts in the Treasury were sent to Antwerp to be refashioned. There was also an enormous number of small Roses. Two thousand of these were specially ordered.
The V-Cut Roses were removed by thieves, but were eventually recovered and returned to the Treasury. They were used again during the reign of Napoleon I in a pair of opulent jewels but, sadly, no illustrations were ever made of them and they disappeared completely when the remaining French Crown Jewels were sold in 1887.
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