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The Hope Diamond

The Hope diamond is a large, deep blue diamond which weighs 45.5 carats. The diamond was found in India in the Goloconda area as a rough crystal weighing 112 carats. The Hope diamond appears blue because of traces of boron within the diamond.

Jean Baptiste Travernier purchased the diamond in India and sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668. The court jeweller cut the diamond and produced a 67 carat gem. The diamond was then called Blue Diamond of the Crown, French Blue or Travernier Blue and King Louis wore the diamond on a pendant around his neck on ceremonial occasions.

During the French Revolution the necklace with the diamond pendant was stolen and brought to London. Then the diamond disappeared.

Later in 1824 a blue diamond was recorded in the possession of Henry Phillip Hope. This diamond was believed to have been cut from the French Blue and is now called the Hope diamond or Blue Hope.

After Hope’s death the diamond was owned by many people, including the nephew of Hope, Henry Hope, his wife Adele, the jewel merchant Adolf Weil, the diamond merchant Pierre Cartier, the New York diamond merchant Harry Winston who finally donated the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 where the diamond is still today.

Legends around the Hope diamond

The diamond is said to bring misfortune to its possessors, because it is believed to be stolen from an eye of a Hindu idol of the goddess Sita in India. And indeed many who possessed the Hope diamond died young or went bankrupt or were killed.