Hope Diamond’s Lineage Traced to French Royalty

Researchers using computer analysis have traced the origin of the famed Hope Diamond, concluding that it was cut from a larger stone that was once part of the crown jewels of France.

A French connection had been suspected for the Hope Diamond, but the study showed how it would have fit inside the larger French Blue Diamond and how that gem was cut, Smithsonian Institution gem curator Jeffrey Post said.

The deep-blue Hope Diamond is the centerpiece of the gem collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, famed for its claimed history of bringing bad luck to its owners. It’s brought good fortune to the museum, though, drawing millions of visitors.

The research supports data suggesting that the Hope Diamond originated with a 115-carat stone found in India in 1668. That stone was sold to King Louis XIV of France, who had it cut into the 69-carat French Blue. The French Blue was stolen during the French Revolution.

More than 20 years later, after the statute of limitations expired, a large, blue diamond was quietly put up for sale in London, and Henry Philip Hope purchased it.

Donated to the Smithsonian by jeweler Harry Winston, the now-45.52-carat stone is the world’s largest blue diamond.

Although the French Blue no longer exists, Post said the sketches of it from France were detailed and enabled a computer model of the stone to be produced.

After using the sketches and analysis to make the computer model and entering the measurements of the Hope Diamond into the equation, the researchers “virtually placed the Hope back inside the French Blue,” Post said.

“It turns out it actually fits perfectly in only one way, but at that orientation, when you saw how it fit, you could see why it was cut the way it is,” he said.