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Hope
Diamond |
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| The
history of the stone which was eventually named the Hope
diamond began when the French merchant traveller, Jean
Baptiste Tavernier, purchased a 112 3/16-carat diamond.
This diamond, which was most likely from the Kollur mine
in Golconda, India, was somewhat triangular in shape and
crudely cut. Its color was described by Tavernier as a
"beautiful violet." |
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| Tavernier
sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in
1668 with 14 other large diamonds and several smaller
ones. In 1673 the stone was recut by Sieur Pitau,
the court jeweler, resulting in a 67 1/8-carat stone.
In the royal inventories, its color was described
as an intense steely-blue and the stone became known
as the "Blue Diamond of the Crown," or
the "French Blue." It was set in gold
and suspended on a neck ribbon which the king wore
on ceremonial occasions. |
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| King
Louis XV, in 1749, had the stone reset by court jeweler
Andre Jacquemin, in a piece of ceremonial jewelry for
the Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison D'Or). In 1791,
after an attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to
flee France, the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were
turned over to the government. During a week-long looting
of the crown jewels in September of 1792, the French Blue
diamond was stolen. |
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In 1812 a deep blue diamond described by John Francillion
as weighing 177 grains (4 grains = 1 carat) was documented
as being in the possession of London diamond merchant,
Daniel Eliason. Strong evidence indicates that the stone
was the recut French Blue and the same stone known today
as the HopeDiamond. Several references suggest that it
was acquired by King George IV of England. At his death,
in 1830, the king's debts were so enormous that the blue
diamond was likely sold through private channels. |
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| The
first reference to the diamond's next owner is found in
the 1839 entry of the gem collection catalog of the well-known
Henry Philip Hope, the man from whom the diamond takes
its name. Unfortunately, the catalog does not reveal where
or from whom Hope acquired the diamond or how much he
paid for it. |
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| Following the
death of Henry Philip Hope in 1839, and after much litigation,
the diamond passed to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and
ultimately to the nephew's grandson Lord Francis Hope.
In 1901 Lord Francis Hope obtained permission from the
Court of Chancery and his sisters to sell the stone to
help pay off his debts. It was sold to a London dealer
who quickly sold it to Joseph Frankels and Sons of New
York City, who retained the stone in New York until they,
in turn, needed cash. The diamond was next sold to Selim
Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. It did
not sell at the auction but was sold soon after to C.H.
Rosenau and then resold to Pierre Cartier that same year.
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| In 1910 the
Hope diamond was shown to Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, of
Washington D.C., at Cartier's in Paris, but she did not
like the setting. Cartier had the diamond reset and took
it to the U.S. where he left it with Mrs. McLean for a
weekend. This strategy was successful. The sale was made
in 1911 with the diamond mounted as a headpiece on a three-tiered
circlet of large white diamonds. Sometime later it became
the pendant on a diamond necklace as we know it today.
Mrs. McLean's flamboyant ownership of the stone lasted
until her death in 1947. |
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| Harry Winston
Inc. of New York City purchased Mrs. McLean's entire jewelry
collection, including the Hope diamond, from her estate
in 1949. This collection also included the 94.8-carat
Star of the East diamond, the 15-carat Star of the South
diamond, a 9-carat green diamond, and a 31-carat diamond
which is now called the McLean diamond. |
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For
the next 10 years the Hope diamond was shown at many
exhibits and charitable events world wide by Harry Winston
Inc., including as the central attraction of their Court
of Jewels exhibition. On November 10, 1958, they donated
the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, and
almost immediately the great blue stone became its premier
attraction. |
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The
Hope diamond has left the Smithsonian only four times
since it was donated. In 1962 it was exhibited for a
month at the Louvre in Paris, France, as part of an
exhibit entitled Ten Centuries of French Jewelry. In
1965 the Hope diamond traveled to South Africa where
it was exhibited at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg.
In 1984 the diamond was lent to Harry Winston Inc.,
in New York, as part of the firm's 50th anniversary
celebration. In 1996 the Hope diamond was again sent
to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, this time for cleaning
and some minor restoration work. |
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The
weight of the Hope diamond for many years was reported
to be 44.5 carats. In 1974 it was removed from its setting
and found actually to weigh 45.52 carats. It is classified
as a type IIb diamond, which are semiconductive and
usually phosphoresce. The Hope diamond phosphoresces
a strong red color, which will last for several seconds
after exposure to short wave ultra-violet light. The
diamond's blue coloration is attributed to trace amounts
of boron in the stone. |
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In
the pendant surrounding the Hope diamond are 16 white
diamonds, both pear-shapes and cushion cuts. A bail
is soldered to the pendant where Mrs. McLean would often
attach other diamonds including the McLean diamond and
the Star of the East. The necklace chain contains 45
white diamonds. |
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In
December of 1988, a team from the Gemological Institute
of America visited the Smithsonian to grade the great
blue stone using present day techniques. They observed
that the gem shows evidence of wear, has a remarkably
strong phosphorescence, and that its clarity is slightly
affected by a whitish graining which is common to blue
diamonds. They described the color as a fancy dark grayish-blue.
An examination on the same day by another gemologist
using a very sensitive colorimeter revealed that there
is a very slight violet component to the deep blue color
which is imperceptible to the naked eye. Still, one
can only wonder that the original 112 3/16-carat stone
bought by Tavernier was described as "un beau violet"
(a beautiful violet). |
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| SUGGESTED
READING |
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- Balfour, I. (1997) Famous Diamonds.
Christie, Manson and Woods, Ltd., London.
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- Carlyle, T. (1900) The French
Revolution. 2 vol. Reprinted by Arden Library, Darby,
PA.
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- Crowningshield, R. (1989) Grading
the Hope Diamond.Gem & Gemology, vol. 25, no.
2.
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- Fowler, Marian. (2002) Hope:
Adventures of a Diamond. NY: Ballantine Books.
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- Gates, H.L. (1921) The Mystery of
the Hope Diamond. International Copywrite Bureau,
N.Y.
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- Krashes, L. (1988) Harry Winston,
The Ultimate Jeweler, 3rd ed. Harry Winston Inc.,
N.Y., & Gemological Institute of America, Santa
Monica, CA.
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- McLean, E.W., & Sparkes, B. (1936)
Father Struck it Rich. Reprinted by Arno Press, N.Y.
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- Mitford, N. (1966) The Sun
King. Harper and Row, N.Y.
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- Patch, S.S. (1999) Blue Mystery:
The Story of the Hope Diamond. Harry Abrams, NY.
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- Post, J.E. (1997) The National
Gem Collection. Harry Abrams, NY.
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- Twinning, E. F.& Twinning B.
(1960) History of the Crown Jewels of Europe. B.T.
Batsford, London.
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- Winters, M.T., & White,
J.S.(1991) George IV's Blue Diamond. Lapidary Journal,
vol. 45, nos. 9 & 10.
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| HOPE
DIAMOND DATA |
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| WEIGHT: |
45.52 carats |
| DIMENSIONS: |
Length 25.60 mm
Width 21.78 mm
Depth 12.00 mm |
| CUT: |
Cushion antique brilliant with
a faceted girdle and extra facets on the pavilion. |
| CLARITY: |
VS1. Whitish graining is present. |
| COLOR: |
Fancy dark grayish-blue |
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