The Hope Diamond
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."
Hope Diamond
The
Hope Diamond in National Museum of Natural History at Smithsonian Institution
found at www.si.edu.
Photo by : DECLAN
MCCULLAGH
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mrs.
Evalyn Walsh McLean wearing the Hope Diamond with the McLean Diamond (31.26
Carats) and Star of the East (94.8 Carats) attached
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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