Introduction
“The French Blue” or “The Hope Diamond” or “Tavernier Blue “is large fancy dark grayish blue diamond. “The Hope Diamond” is famous for supposedly being cursed and is currently housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C.
History of the stone & Origin of the stone’s name
The Hope Diamond is the previous record holder for being the largest faceted diamond and is probably the most well known and historically interesting of all diamonds. The Hope Diamond was originally known as the “Tavernier Blue” named after its first owner which was a crudely cut triangular diamond. According to legend, it was stolen from an Indian temple from statue of goddess Sita where it formed the eye. It purchased by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier around 1660. The diamond was sold to King Louis XIV of France who had it cut into a 67.125 carat stone. It was renamed “the French Blue” and worn for ceremonial functions in France. The diamond was rarely seen until Louis XVI gave it to Marie Antoinette who added it to her jewelry collection. When the French Revolution started the diamond was stolen and resurfaced in La Havre four years later. The diamond disappeared for another 20 years; when it resurfaced in the hands of a London diamond merchant Daniel Eliason in 1812. Henry Philip Hope purchased the diamond in 1824, after his death his heirs fought over the diamond. It passed through three generations of the Hope family until Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton Hope fell into bankruptcy and was forced to sell the stone. The diamond continued to change hands until Pierre Cartier acquired it in 1910. Cartier reset the stone and sold it to socialite Evelyn Walsh McLean she was fascinated by the magical stone “The Hope diamond” the largest and most perfect blue diamond in existence and she thought things that were unlucky for everybody else would be lucky for her, because she was an exception. The deal closed at $180,000.She left the stone to her heirs; however it had to be sold again to settle outstanding debt. The stone was purchased by legendary jeweler Harry Winston who had the lower portion of the stone cut to increase its brilliance. After having the diamond as part of his traveling exhibit known as "the court of jewels," he donated it to the Smithsonian Institution where he sent it through the US postal service in plain brown wrapper. The diamond is said to have been cursed by the Hindu temple priest because financial ruin or sudden death occurred to many who owned it. The diamond was also the inspiration for the fictional "Heart of the Ocean" in the movie Titanic. In 2005 new computer research proved that the Hope Diamond was indeed the French Blue that was stolen from the jewelry collection of Marie Antoinette. The currently the stone is priced at $350 Million and more.
Characteristics of Diamond
“The French Blue” or “The Hope Diamond” or “Tavernier Blue “is fancy dark grayish blue diamond weighing 45.52 carats (9.10 g).The Hope Diamond is deep-blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure, but it exhibits red phosphorescence under ultraviolet light. It is classified as a Type IIb diamond, a Type IIb means free of nitrogen, but contains trace quantities of another impurity, boron, which imparts a blue color to the diamonds. All the natural blue diamond belongs to this group. However they are extremely scarce, constituting less than 0.1 % of all natural diamonds.
