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| Marie Antoinette wearing what was known then as the "French Blue." |
The Hope Diamond is the most famous stone in the world. It is a strong indigo color which is the rarest of diamond colors and it is slightly more than 45 1/2 carats. Supposedly it was taken from an eye of an Indian god statue. It was bought by Jean Tavernier in 1669 and later sold to King Louis XIV for about $180,000 of our money today. The Hope Diamond was re-cut from the Indian style into a more modern table-cut. Marie Antoinette is known to have worn this stone. This was the start of the "unlucky" history of the stone.
During the French Revolution the "French Blue" was lost, not to show up until Henry Phillip Hope purchased it. It then became known as the Hope Diamond.
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| A young Evalyn Walsh McLean. |
The following is an interesting sideline to the history of the Hope Diamond. This history adds to the mystique surrounding the Hope Diamond's bad luck. The Hope Diamond was sold to Cartier due to Henry Hope's bankruptcy. Cartier then sold the Hope Diamond to Evalyn Walsh McLean in 1911. She had married Edward "Ned" McLean in 1908 who was heir to the Washington post. McLean's father was a wealthy businessman who had made his fortune in the silver industry.
Evalyn had four children, two of which died tragically. Her nine year old Vincent was run over by a car, and her daughter at 24 died of a drug overdose. He husband was an alcoholic and was later institutionalized where he died. Evalyn herself also suffered from alcoholism. Evalyn Walsh McLean died in 1946 from pneumonia. Was this simply fate, or the negative power of the Hope Diamond?
Later, in 1949, Harry Winston bought the Hope Diamond to settle the debts of the estate. It went on a nine year goodwill tour of the United States then he donated the diamond in 1958 to the Smithsonian.
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| Temporary setting of Hope Diamond. |
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| Original and permanent setting for the Hope Diamond. |
The Orlov Diamond is an extremely famous and important diamond that is found in the Moscow Kremlin. Its size is 189.62 carats. The diamond reportedly came from an eye of a statue from Southern India around 1750. The stone passed from merchant to merchant, then appeared for sale in Amsterdam. Count Grigory Orlov bought the diamond for 400,000 florins. Orlov was having an affair with Empress Catherine and later he gave the stone to her because she wanted it. This love affair took place in the 18th century. Catherine named the diamond after Count Orlov and had it placed in a new royal scepter. It is considered one of the most famous diamonds in the world.
