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Angela Godden
26th May 2010 11:59

The Hope Diamond

 

Did you manage to see the documentary last night about the curse of The Hope Diamond? it was piecing together clues into its true history and curses it is reportedly famous for. I watched it, as it sparked my own interest into curses, myths and of course sparkly things!

The Hope Diamond is a large, 45.52 carats, deep-blue diamond, housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. The Hope Diamond is blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure. In 1988 the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) described the colour as 'fancy dark grayish-blue.' However rephrased the description in 1996 to 'fancy deep grayish-blue.' The clarity was determined to be VS1.

The cut was described as being 'cushion antique brilliant with a faceted girdle and extra facets on the pavilion.' The dimensions in terms of length, width, and depth are 25.60mm x 21.78mm x 12.00mm.

One aspect of this famous diamond that most people do not get to see is its fiery red phosphorescence that results from exposure to ultraviolet light, which continues for more than a minute. The mysterious red phosphorescence, rarely seen in other blue diamonds, added to the Hope Diamond's mystique and allure where some saw this as a supernatural force. However, the mystery has now been solved. Scientists observed that almost all natural blue diamond's show phosphorescence that has components of blue and red light. In some cases, including the Hope Diamond, the red colour dominates, and the phosphorescence appears red to the eye; but for other diamonds, the blue colour dominates.

The Hope Diamond in its original setting

The Hope has been displayed as a loose gem since late summer of 2009.

Loose gem

The stone is to be temporarily reset in a newly designed necklace, created by the Harry Winston firm. Three designs for the new setting, all white diamonds and white metal, were created and the public was allowed to vote on them via the internet. The winning necklace will debut sometime this year! I can't wait to see it!

Over the years we have made a wide range of blue jewellery with treated blue diamonds, sapphires, star sapphires, aquamarines, moonstones, topaz and we currently have a lovely whopper of a blue zircon!

Shown below are a few gorgeous engagement rings from our current collection of jewellery.

Platinum and blue zircon engagement ring
Aquamarine engagement and wedding ring set
Bubble inspired ring
Platinum and sapphire engagement ring

These all come with a magical fortune of sparkles on your fingers and no curse in hand.

Angela

Angela Godden
 

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  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, North Barn, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Weston, Hertfordshire, SG4 7DP, England
    Phone: +44 (0)1462 790565 Fax: +44 (0)1462 790140 enquiries@hkjewellery.co.uk
  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, 6/7 Green Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3JU, England.
    Phone: +44 (0)1223 461333 Fax: +44 (0)1223 365269 cambridge@hkjewellery.co.uk

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