The Hope Diamond

         A name that is inseparably linked to the history of the diamond in modern times is Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. A 17th century French trader - intrepid as he was curious - was the first European who succeeded in obtaining the official permission to visit the Indian diamond fields. In his diary, Tavernier wrote that one day in 1645 he was standing on a hill in India looking at the Coulour mines near the city of Golconda (now Hyderabad) which was so famous for its precious stones that its name became synonymous with wealth. From a prominent position, Tavernier, who was not prone to exaggeration, was able to see nearly sixty thousand workers of all ages who dug for diamonds under the whips of their overseers in the hot sun. Taverniers' travel logs contain extensive description of individual large diamonds and he plays a central role in the intriguing tale of the Hope Diamond, perhaps the best known diamond in the world.

        During his Travels in India, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier is supposed to have stolen a remarkable blue diamond, which was an eye in a statue of a Hindu God Rama. The God is said to have placed a curse on the stone, which soon had a effect, as evident from the events that followed.

• Shortly after selling the blue stone the Kind Louis XIV, Tavernier died in poverty and tragic circumstances.
• The king only wore the cursed 'blue crown jewel' once and then died of smallpox. The blue stone was then stolen from the royal treasure a short time later.
• It appeared again in London in 1830. The banker Henry Hope (hence, the current name of the diamond) bought it for an enormously high sum. He was then forced to sell it as a result of bankruptcy and died a couple of years later.
• It passed on to an Eastern European Prince, who gave it as a gift to his favourite dancer. Only a few hours after making this gift, the prince fell into a jealous rage and shot her.
• A Greek diamond trader bough the Hope diamond and sold it again. A short time after that, he drove his car over a cliff, killing himself, his wife and children. 
• The man who purchased the Hope diamond was the Turkush sultan Abdul-Hamid II. He only had it a few months before he was deposed by an officers putsch. 
• An American media magnate Edward McLean bough the diamond in 1922. One year later, he took his last trip on board the Titanic.
• McLeans' daughter subsequently in the possession of the diamond, finally died of an overdose of sleeping pills.

Hope Diamond on display at Smithsonian

      

       The last owner of the Hope diamond was the American jeweller Harry Winston. In view of the fate of previous owners, he decided to make the diamond available to the public and presented it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington as a gift, where the 45.52 carat diamond can still be seen today. Of course such stories may not be completely true, but they do greatly enhance the mysterious allure and romanticism of diamonds. These tales of adventure have also contributed towards making diamonds the most well researched and the most desired mineral on the planet. 

     When thieves staged a 50 Million dollar diamond heist at Brussels Airport, it made international headlines, not just because of the enormous value of the stolen gems , but also because of our love affair with it. Jeff Post, Curator of the national gems and mineral collection for the Smithsonian says, "You mention the word 'Diamond' and it takes on a whole new level of interest. That's why we have the Hope Diamond in front of our exhibition hall. It's like going to he Louvre and making sure you go see the Mona Lisa first."

        There are a lot of superlatives about diamonds that separate them from basically everything of this planet- the hardest substance, the best conductor of heat and well, they're obviously a special kind of a substance. But I personally believe the real  miracle about every diamond is that it had to be this crystal that was almost perfectly formed hundreds of miles below the Earth surface and survived essentially a violent rapid volcanic eruption to bring it to the Earths' surface and the found or mined. Combine that chaotic trip through the depths of the Earth with the facet that most diamonds are billions of years old and the cultural value of the diamond begins to make sense.

        People have always recognized diamonds as something of great value, worth more per volume than almost anything else. And because diamonds used to be much rarer than they are now, they were owned almost exclusively by the wealthy and powerful, who passed them on from generation to generation. And most people will always want that romanticism of knowing the gem of their finger came from the Earth. The origin of natural diamonds lend the diamond both their value and their lure. It gives diamonds a certain cache, a prestige we cant really fight.