Democratic America has no crown jewels. but we've got the next best thing, or maybe a better thing altogether, in the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection, on display in the National Museum of Natural History in a new setting that suits its splendor, the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals.
The gem collection dates back to 1884, when a curator in the Smithsonian's Division of Mineralogy assembled a modest array of American precious stones for display that year at the New Orleans Exhibition. In the ensuing 116 years, the collection has grown to a dazzling scale and beauty, thanks almost entirely to donors who wanted their jewels to be in the nation's museum.
The names of the great jewels in the collection — the Napoleon Diamond Necklace, the Marie-Louise Diadem, the Marie Antoinette Earrings, the Spanish Inquisition Necklace, the Portuguese Diamond, the Hooker Emerald — evoke both the grand realm of history and the dark world of the modern mystery novel. But the most famous of all the gems — not the biggest, but the one that burns so bright in the public's imagination that it's the most sought-out object in the Smithsonian — is the Hope Diamond. Is the diamond named after the emotion? Nothing so fanciful, I'm afraid. Henry Philip Hope, a London banker and gem collector, owned the stone in the 1830s.
The diamond weighs 45.52 carats and is not blindingly white, as we are accustomed to seeing diamonds, but deep blue. It's in a setting designed by Pierre Cartier — surrounded by 16 alternating pear-shaped and cushion-cut white diamonds, on a chain of 45 white diamonds. Deep-blue diamonds rarely exceed a few carats in size, and the Hope Diamond is, in fact, the largest such diamond known. It was formed a hundred miles beneath the surface of the earth and carried upward by a volcanic eruption more than a billion years ago.
Compared with its geologic history, the diamond's history as an object of human desire has lasted barely an instant. The stone was discovered in India sometime before 1668, the year King Louis XIV bought a blue diamond of 110.5 metric carats that was eventually recut several times to become the jewel we know today. The diamond disappeared with the monarchy during the French Revolution, reemerged in London in 1812, and subsequently became the possession of a British king, George IV. It was then purchased by the aforementioned Mr. Hope, whose family held it through the 19th century. In 1912 Pierre Cartier sold it to the American heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean, whose estate sold it to the jeweler Harry Winston, who donated it to the Smithsonian in 1958, where it has since been on more or less continuous exhibition — though never looking as good as it does today.
The diamond has the place of honor at the head of the gem collection. It rests on a small column that turns slowly to show the jewel in four directions. There's an eerily human aspect to this stately rotation, as if a wearer were showing off the gem, and viewers fall silent under its spell. It's one of the great Smithsonian experiences.
And it is the prelude to other unforgettable experiences that await a few steps away. In the past, when the Hope Diamond was kept at the end of the exhibition, visitors rushed to get to it, paying little attention to anything on the way. A wonderful thing has happened by putting it up front. Visitors see the diamond, and it gets them to wonder what's in the next room, and in the space beyond that. They seek out the other gems and the minerals so beautiful and strange they might have come from other galaxies rather than from our own earth.
Near the end of the display in the Hooker gallery there's a tiny vial of diamond crystals taken from a meteorite — diamonds from the heavens, part of the cosmic cloud that gave birth to our solar system. At one end of the exhibition then, the Hope Diamond, made miles below the earth's surface; at the other, the diamond dust of stars. An astonishing trajectory; an everyday marvel at the Smithsonian.
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Comments (15)
Last time I was in Washington DC and saw The Hope Diamond I witnessed an emotional momment....a mother was describing The Hope Diamond to her blind son. I think of this every time The Hope Diamond is mentioned....can't wait to see the new exhibit.
Posted by Linda Leigh Long on November 11,2012 | 11:27 AM
I guess I'm the only person to find diamonds and jewels in general completely unremarkable. I saw this diamond in person at the Smithsonian a while back and was underwhelmed.
Posted by Jani on October 30,2012 | 09:23 AM
I was fortunate to be photographed in 1956,holding the Hope Diamond at the Winston Salon in Geneva. My cousin, Jacques Timey had opened Winston's first branch office and was responsible for the firm's European, Asian and African business. When Jacques learned that his cousin was a young jeweler in St. Louis, MO with 3 stores, he invited me to visit, at which time he would help me buy diamonds at the most favorable prices. It was the greatest event in my business career. On my return to New York, Mr Winston was most gracious and took a personal interest in helping me. He said he had satisfactorily checked my background and was determined to see that I would be very successful jeweler. He instructed his nephew, Jerry Winston, who was in charge of "loose goods", to let me select the color and quality grades of the diamonds I was selling and to give me the same price list as their largest quantity buyers were using. On each visit to NY, I was furnished a desk and phone to do my business. Mr. Winston was a public relations expert, always exploiting diamonds, the reason he was DeBeers largest and favored buyer. At his urging, I was photographed with other famous diamonds, in Geneva and the NY salon. I displayed my Hope photos in each of my 45 stores and jewelry departments in 11 states. While Mr. Winston permitted me to call upon him, out of respect to his privacy and limited time, I only met with or called him a little over a dozen times.
Posted by Jerry Bearman on July 27,2012 | 08:23 PM
I think the hope diamond is a beautiful diamond.its supposed to bring tragedy to the person.
Posted by alex on April 17,2010 | 11:42 AM
I love the hope diamond
Posted by Abby on April 12,2010 | 08:56 PM
Such a beautiful piece! Would that I could afford such. Alas, it would take my whole life's income, and then I would have to sell it to live! Congratulations in keeping it safe!
Posted by Chris Kees on December 7,2009 | 03:24 PM
interesting
Posted by deanna on October 30,2009 | 12:30 PM
I would like to see more pictures of the hope diamond and to know the carrot size of the white diamonds. We are getting older abut we still like to see pretty jewelry. And I know I will never get to go see it.
Posted by Pat Jones on September 27,2009 | 10:37 PM
How do I vote on new setting>
Posted by mary garrity on September 5,2009 | 11:37 AM
The question of who will be paying for this new setting is not even mentioned. Is this another black hole that our taxes are being dumped down, or is someone privately footing the bill?
Posted by Marilyn Jost on August 24,2009 | 07:50 AM
Why isn't there going to be a celebration of some sort on the 50th anniversary of the Hope Diamond being at the Smithsonian. It seems only reasonable that there would be some type of publicity for this milestone.
Posted by Peggy Shearon on March 23,2009 | 09:27 AM
Dear Sirs and Madams, The Hope diamond is magnificent. I thought there was more to its story than simply the owners from the time of its discovery. Isnt the Hope the diamond that is supposedly cursed? I think you should have websites available with photos from each of your exhibits. There are many people, elderly and on very limited incomes, some disabled so even if they had the money to travel they are physically unable to, who have a burning desire to see the exhibits they have heard tell of their entire lives. And simply cannot. Is this something Smithsonian has considered? If not, would you? After all, Smithsonian is an American icon. Regards from Maine, LLowell
Posted by Lorelei Lowell on January 24,2009 | 01:18 PM
i had the privilege of seeing the Hope diamond personally in October last year, extremely beautiful with a real story. A picture should really be put up to accompany the article.
Posted by Crystal S Singh on January 21,2009 | 01:14 PM
Dear Sirs why don't you have picture of the Hope Diamond on diplay so that someone who has never seen it has a chance to. I was lucky enough to see it years ago at the Smithsonian and it was quite beautiful actually the setting surronding the diamond was more impressive than the actual diamond as the blue stone doesn't seem to look like e real diamond I guess thats because it is so rare that yuo don't know what to expect when seeing it for the first time.
Posted by Pegi DiSalvatore on January 14,2009 | 12:22 AM