If you want to know how large the Hope Diamond is, you’ve come to the right place. It’s a stunning, 112- carat diamond, but what’s the story behind it? The Hope Diamond is believed to have originated from Kollur in Golconda, India. A French gem merchant bought the rough diamond from an Indian temple and brought it back to France. This is how the diamond obtained its royal status.
Hope’s fame was attributed to its buyer, Evalyn Walsh McLean. She purchased it from Cartier in 1912 and affixed it to her dog’s collar. Unfortunately for Evalyn, she suffered a terrible fate. Her husband left her for another woman, and she eventually died in a psychiatric hospital. She also died of a heart attack in 1923. After her death, her children sold Hope to a famous jeweler in 1949.
What’s the History of Hope Diamond?
The Hope diamond is the most important blue diamond withinside the international this is part of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History collection. Harry Winston was a talented to this prestigious organization in Washington DC in 1958.
Diamonds are one of the maximum outstanding bodily representations of wealth and fee you may find. Crafted via very long-time period herbal processes, they frequently seem in imagery related to the wealthiest of the wealthy, often even signifying royalty.
Easily one of the maximum recognizable diamonds withinside the international is the Hope Diamond, anticipated to be really well worth more or less 1 / 4 of one billion dollars. At the pinnacle of its outstanding beauty, the Hope Diamond contains an illustrious record that contributes considerably to its first-rate fee.
How Big is the Hope Diamond?
45.52 carats
For many years, the Hope Diamond was estimated to weigh 44.5 carats. It was taken out of its setting in 1974 and discovered to be 45.52 carats in weight. It’s a type IIb diamond, which means it’s semiconductive and phosphoresces frequently.
The Hope diamond is the biggest blue stone ever discovered and it is currently on display in a world-famous institution, which offers its own reserved room. After the discovery of the Hope diamond, it became the second most prized art object in the world and was with the French royal family until 1792. The diamond was stolen during the French Revolution when Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette were executed. Many believe the diamond to be cursed and is the most famous of them all.
Originally, Daniel Eliason cut the Hope Diamond in 1824. Afterward, the diamond disappeared until King George IV bought it. In 1820, Henry Philip Hope sold the Hope Diamond to a banker named Harry Winston, who donated it to the Smithsonian Institution. Today, it is displayed at the National Museum of Natural History. The Hope Diamond is important for science, not only because of its size, but because of the insights, it provides into diamond formation.
The Hope Diamond was once thought to be a part of the Tavernier stone, but it was never discovered as part of the original treasure. Instead, it became the main attraction of a traveling exhibition, based on drawings from that period. The Hope Diamond was destined to find a new home. In 2009, Dr. Switzer convinced Harry Winston to donate the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian, which eventually led to the creation of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
While the Hope Diamond is huge, the story of its alleged curse was merely a rumor. The rumor that the diamond has a curse was most likely inspired by Wilie Collins’ novel The Moonstone, published in 1868. In this novel, the diamond was stolen from a Hindu idol by a French merchant named Tavernier. Tavernier died shortly after, but the tale of the Hope Diamond’s curse is far from over. In fact, the diamond is connected to the beheading of Marie Antoinette and the deaths of other characters.
Where did it Originate?
Though maximum of the Hope Diamond’s top-notch records came about withinside the beyond few centuries, its origins attain again over one billion years, while it became shaped beneath neath gigantic strain deep below the Earth’s crust. It became then borne to the floor through volcanic activity, in which it remained for hundreds of thousands of years.
The diamond first entered human records someday withinside the 17th century, when it became observed at a mine in India. The actual region is uncertain, eleven though it became maximumly probable the Kollur mine in Golkonda. A few factors after its discovery, it exceeded into the arms of a visiting French service provider named Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who added it with him again to Europe.
Who Owned it?
Perhaps the maximum charming detail of the diamond’s records comes right all the way down to the range of extraordinary ancient figures who\’ve owned it. Beginning the day Tavernier bought it, the Hope Diamond made a call for itself in huge element due actually to the reputation and fortune of these figures, and the manner it modified arms among them.
The Hope diamond was once owned by several notable historical figures, including King Louis XIV of France. The Hope diamond gained fame for its famous owners. It passed through a series of owners and was sold to different banks and jewel merchants over the next decade. In 1668, King Louis XIV purchased it from Tavernier. He was an extremely rich ruler and commissioned the diamond to be recut and made into a crown jewel.
A Royal Heirloom
The first determined to accumulate the diamond, shopping it from Tavernier in 1668, become King Louis XIV of France. As an unbelievably rich and indulgent ruler, Louis had the diamond recut and made it into one in every of his crown jewels.
Upon Louis’s death, the diamond was handed to his son and grandson, subsequently deciding on Louis XVI. This Louis, alongside together along with his wife, Marie Antoinette, have been beheaded all through the French Revolution. The next looting of the royal treasuries precipitated the diamond to be misplaced for numerous years.
When it resurfaced once more in 1812, it become withinside the fingers of a diamond service provider in London named Daniel Eliason, who in the end bought it to some other king — this time, King George IV of the United Kingdom.
A Family Name
Upon George’s death, the diamond became maximum probably offered to repay debt incurred at some stage in his reign, and with the aid of using 1839, it had made its manner to famous collector Henry Philip Hope, from whom it was given its name.
After Hope’s death, the diamond was handed to his nephew, Henry Thomas, after which to Henry Thomas’s grandson, Lord Francis Hope. When Lord Francis in the end offered it in 1901 to repay his debts, it went thru a sequence of jewel merchants. Lord Francis offered it to a neighborhood provider in London, who offered it to Joseph Frankels in New York City, who offered it to Selim Habib, who offered it to C.H. Rosenau
A Social Symbol
Rosenau sooner or later bought the gem to Pierre Cartier, the acclaimed jeweler in Paris. Cartier had a little hobby in passing the diamond to some other merchant, instead, turning his eye to the delivery of rich American socialites. He discovered his best goal in Evalyn Walsh McLean, the heiress to a multimillionaire who actually struck gold running as a miner.
McLean became all in favor of diamonds and different gems, so Cartier made each attempt to promote her the Hope Diamond. After some failed attempts, he succeeded in persuading her via way of means of leaving the diamond in her arms for a week, lengthy sufficient for her to grow to be connected to it. Then, following a frustratingly lengthy process, McLean sooner or later bought the diamond in 1911 and maintained possession of it for the relaxation of her life.
The Hope Diamond as a Good Luck Charm
It become Simon Frankel, an American jeweler, who offered the Hope diamond in 1901 and took it to the United States. The diamond modified palms numerous instances in the course of the following couple of years (which include the sultan, the actress, the Russian count, in case you trust Cartier), finishing with Pierre Cartier.
Pierre Cartier believed he had observed a purchaser Evalyn Walsh McLean, who had first visible the diamond in 1910 even as journeying Paris together along with her husband. Since Mrs. McLean had formerly instructed Pierre Cartier that gadgets normally taken into consideration horrific good fortune changed into precise good fortune for her, in his pitch Cartier emphasized the Hope diamond\’s terrible history. However, considering Mrs. McLean did now no longer just like the diamond in its modern-day mounting, she became him down.
A few months later, Pierre Cartier arrived withinside the U.S. and requested Mrs. McLean to hold the Hope diamond for the weekend. Having reset the Hope diamond into a brand new mounting, Cartier was hoping she might develop connected to it over the weekend. He turned into proper and McLean offered the Hope diamond.
When it’s Purchased?
Since its purchase in 1910, the Hope Diamond has been in the possession of several prominent people, including the British Prime Minister Winston. The Smithsonian Institution bought the Hope diamond in 1958, and it was displayed outside its current home four times: at the Louvre in Paris, at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg, and at the Harry Winston New York 50th anniversary gala. Harry Winston also donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institute. It was shipped to Washington in a small package with a kraft-paper cover.
Conclusion
The Hope Diamond has a rich and interesting history. It was owned by French royals, thieves, and royalty for four centuries, and is the largest diamond in the world. While the Hope Diamond is now worth $250 million, it’s reputation continues to haunt it and make it the most famous blue diamond. You can view a replica of the Hope Diamond at the Clock Tower Precinct in the V&A Waterfront. It’s open daily from 9am to 9pm.
The Hope diamond is a highly precious, 45.52 carats stone well-known worldwide. Even though its current price is estimated to $350 million, there are only a few people who have wanted to own this cursed gem with a dark history.
