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Famous Coloured Diamonds - The Hope Diamond


The Hope diamond has a long and interesting history. It is not known where exactly this coloured diamond was discovered but it has been said that is was taken from a sculpture in India. This magnificent coloured diamond was known as the deepest blue coloured diamond in the world and was a staggering 112 carats before it was cut. The Hope Diamond exchanged many hands over the years and when King Louis XIV of France had the Hope diamond in his possession, he had the diamond cut into a triangular pear shape weighing 67.50 carats. It was then known as the French Blue diamond. The French Blue diamond was stolen from King Louis XIV during the French Revolution and could not be found for many years.

Many years later a smaller blue coloured diamond was found, and many people believe this smaller blue diamond was actually cut from the magnificent French Blue diamond that disappeared all those years ago. The blue coloured diamond weighed 44.50 carats and was then named the Hope Diamond.

There are legends of a curse associated with the Hope diamond. It has been said that almost all people who have been in possession of this brilliant blue coloured diamond over the years have had some or other misfortune. The movie Titanic also boasts a magnificent blue coloured diamond – much the same as the Hope Diamond. This diamond is known as the “Heart of the Ocean” which was fictitiously created to be the other half of the Hope Diamond that vanished all those years ago.

The Hope Diamond was put on public display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in November 2010 in a magnificent new setting to commemorate the anniversary of the blue coloured diamond. The new necklace design is called “Embracing Hope” and has three rows of 340 diamonds that twist to gently cradle the magnificent blue diamond in the centre. The Hope diamond will return to its original oval setting with 16 white diamonds surrounding it after one year.