GEMSTONES

DIAMOND, the Hope Diamond

The legend
This 45.52 carat dark blue diamond is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous diamonds, with a history heavily veiled with superstition. 


The legend unfolds in 1642 in India, where Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, gem merchant, was shown a rough blue diamond that is believed to have weighed 112.50 carats.  At that time, any diamond over 10 carats, by law, became the property of the local prince.  Smuggled out of India, it was sold to Louis XIV by Tavernier in 1668.  Louis XIV, cut it into a 67.50 pear shape.  In 1792 the French jewels were stolen and the Hope showed up in London in 1830, having been recut to 45.52 carats, where it was sold to Henry Phillip Hope for $90,000.  After being disposed of for financial hardships, it surfaced at a sheriff’s auction in England, where Sir Caspar Purdon-Clarke recognized it and returned it to the Hope estate.  To satisfy lingering debts, it was sold to a New York jeweler who went bankrupt a few years later.  The next owner was a French broker, Jacques Colot, who sold it to Prince Ivan Kanitovski, a Russian Prince.  The next owner was an Egyptian merchant, Habib Bey, who died by drowning, but the Hope showed up next with a Greek broker, Simon Montharides, who sold it to Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire.  In 1910, is was purchased by Pierre Cartier, who then sold it to Mrs. Evalyn McLean of the Washington Post.  After her death, the Hope was purchased by Harry Winston, prominent international jeweler.  In 1958, he donated it to the Smithsonian Institution where it rests in splendor today.