ann's journey

Hope Diamond
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French Blue redirects here. For the color, see Blue.
Hope Diamond (formerly French Blue)

Hope Diamond in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
Weight 45.52[1] carats (9.10 g)
Color Fancy Dark Greenish blue
Cut Antique cushion
Country of origin India
Mine of origin Kollur mine
Date discovered Surfaced in 1812
Cut by Unknown
Original owner Mohammed Shadab Ghori
Current owner Smithsonian Natural History Museum
Estimated value $300–$350 million
The Hope Diamond is a large, 45.52-carat,[1] fancy deep grayish-blue diamond, currently housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C.. The diamond is legendary for the curse it supposedly puts on whomever possesses it. The Hope Diamond is blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within the diamond. The Hope Diamond exhibits red phosphoresence under ultraviolet light[2] and is classified as a Type IIb diamond.
Curse



The Hope Diamond in its present case in the National Gem Collection.
The owner at the time, Moye, ghost-wrote a book asserting that there was a legend that the diamond was cursed.
According to the story, Tavernier stole the diamond from a Hindu statue. The diamond was one of the two eyes of the idol, and when the priests noticed it was missing, they placed a curse on whoever owned the diamond. One reason that this is not accepted is that the Hope's sister has not been found. The legend claimed that Tavernier died of fever soon after, and that his body was torn apart by wolves (but the historical record shows that he actually lived to 84). The Hope Diamond was blamed for the fall from the king's favor of madame Athenais de Montespan and French finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, the beheadings of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the rape, mutilation and beheading of the Princesse de Lamballe. The legend includes characters who are considered by some to be fictitious persons added since they remain historically unverified: diamond cutter Wilhelm Fals (killed when his son Hendrik stole it); Hendrik Fals (suicide); Francois Beaulieu (starvation after he sold it to Daniel Eliason).
Simon Frankel (alleged to be in financial difficulties) had supposedly sold it to Jacques Colot (suicide); the next owner, Russian prince Kanitowski, who supposedly lent it to French actress Lorens Ladue, who he later shot, and was later himself killed by revolutionaries; jeweler Simon Montharides (killed with his family) and Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid (the diamond was blamed for his forced abdication) who had supposedly killed various members of his court for the stone. However, the existence of only a few of these characters has been verified historically, leading researchers to conclude that most of these persons are fictitious.
May Yohe blamed the Hope for her misfortunes. In July 1902, months after Lord Francis divorced her, she told police in Australia that her lover, Putnam Strong, had abandoned her and taken her jewels. Incredibly, the couple reconciled, married later that year, but divorced in 1910. On her third marriage by 1920, she persuaded film producer George Kleine to back a 15-episode serial The Hope Diamond Mystery, which added fictitious characters to the tale. It was not successful. In 1921, she hired Henry Leyford Gates to help her write The Mystery of the Hope Diamond, in which she starred as Lady Francis Hope. The film added more characters, including a fictionalized Tavernier, and added Marat among the diamond's "victims". She also wore her copy of the Hope, trying to generate more publicity to further her career.
Lord Francis Hope married Olive Muriel Thompson in 1904. They had three children before she died suddenly in 1912, a tragedy that has been attributed to The Curse.
Evalyn Walsh McLean added her own narrative to the story behind the blue jewel, including that one of the owners was Catherine the Great. McLean would bring the Diamond out for friends to try on, including Warren G. Harding and Florence Harding. McLean often strapped the Hope to her pet dog's collar while in residence at Friendship, in northwest Washington D.C.. There are also stories that she would frequently misplace it at parties, and then make a children's game out of finding the Hope.
However, since the diamond was put in the care of the Smithsonian Institute, there have been no unusual incidents related to it.
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