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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
A blue diamond necklace on a blue background

Hope Diamond

Over 100 million visitors have experienced the beauty of the Hope Diamond since Harry Winston donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. Learn more about this remarkable gem using the tiles below.

Gallery

A blue diamond necklace on a blue background
The Hope Diamond. Photo by Chip Clark. Catalog number: NMNH G3551. Photo number: 78-8853A.
blue diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds
The dark-blue Hope Diamond outside its setting on a light blue background
The Hope Diamond outside its necklace. Photo by Chip Clark (2003-37145).
The Hope Diamond mounted in a platinum necklace with baguette-cut diamonds
The Hope Diamond in the Embracing Hope necklace. The platinum necklace features 340 baguette diamonds. Photo by Don Hurlbert, Smithsonian (2010-05279).
An elaborate piece of jewelry featuring the French Blue diamond
A color illustration of the Emblem of the Order of the Golden Fleece by Pierre-André Jacqumin. The emblem contained several spectacular gems, including the French Blue diamond and the Côte de Bretagne spinel.
Lead cast of the French Blue alongside the Hope Diamond
The Hope Diamond next to the lead cast of the French Blue recently found in the collections of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Photo by François Farges.
A plain brown package with many stamps
The Hope Diamond was sent to the Smithsonian by registered mail in a plain brown package, insured for one million dollars. The original box is currently in the collection at the US Postal Museum.
A smiling woman beside two men in suits, one of whom holds the Hope Diamond
Presentation of the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian on November 10, 1958, featuring Edna Winston, wife of the donor Harry Winston; Dr. Leonard Carmichael, Secretary of the Smithsonian; and Dr. George Switzer, Curator of Mineralogy (SIA2008-2293).
The Hope Diamond necklace in a dark, circular viewing case
The Hope Diamond on display in its first exhibit case at the National Museum of Natural History in 1958
The Hope Diamond under UV light glows red against a dark background
The Hope Diamond phosphoresces red under ultraviolet light. Photo by Chip Clark (2009-49657).
The Hope Diamond being analyzed by a scientific instrument
The Hope Diamond mounted in a time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer at the Smithsonian (Post and Farges, 2014).
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Before coming to the Smithsonian, the Hope Diamond traveled from a mine in India to the court of the Louis XIV, from the merchant houses of Europe to the homes of the American elite. Learn about its journey using the slider below or take a deep dive into the history of this remarkable gem.

Timeline

An sepia illustration of three views of a large diamond
1668-1669: King Louis XIV of France purchased a spectacular blue diamond from Jean-Baptiste Tavernier
A heart-shaped blue diamond with seven-rayed yellow star in the middle
1669-1672: Louis XIV ordered Tavernier's Diamond recut, producing a ~69-carat heart-shaped diamond known today as the French Blue.
Fleece dangles from jewelry featuring a large blue diamond
1749: King Louis XV had the French Blue Diamond set into the Order of the Golden Fleece by Parisian jeweler Pierre-André Jacqumin
A horse-drawn carriage passes through a crowd in front of a tower
1791: King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were captured attempting to flee France during the French Revolution. The French Blue and the rest of the royal jewels were placed in the Garde-Meuble by the revolutionary government.
A plaza with statue and people in front of a neoclassical building
1792: During the chaos of the French Revolution, the French Blue Diamond was stolen during a week-long looting of the French Crown Jewels from the Garde-Meuble
Illustration of a diamond viewed from above (blue) and from the side
1812: A deep blue diamond weighing approximately 45.5 carats appeared in London in the possession of Daniel Eliason. A description of the diamond by the jeweler John Francillon is the first reference to the Hope Diamond as we know it today.
Top-down illustration of a blue diamond
1813-1823: Several British naturalists wrote about Eliason's blue diamond. A later account placed the diamond in the possession of George IV.
Sepia-toned portrait of a white man in old-fashioned clothes
1839: A blue diamond is described in the gem collection catalogue of Henry Philip Hope. The diamond thereafter bears his name.
Illustration of groups of people outside a large exhibition building
1851: The Hope Diamond was displayed at the Crystal Palace for the Great London Exhibition
Computer models of three blue diamonds
1858: Charles Barbot published the first written speculation that the Hope Diamond is the recut French Blue.
A serious, light-skinned man with glasses and a mustache looks past the camera
1887: Lord Francis Hope, the grandson of Henry Thomas Hope, inherited the Hope Diamond. Burdened by debt, he was forced to put the diamond up for sale in 1901.
An ocean liner with four smokestacks travels on a green-blue ocean
1901-1907: The Hope Diamond was sold by Lord Francis Hope and passed through the hands of several gem dealers and jewelry merchants before ending up in New York City.
Corner of a four-story stone building with two men standing in front
1908-1909: Selim Habib purchased the Hope Diamond from the faltering Joseph Frankel's Sons & Co. Habib's later misfortunes fueled a growing myth about a curse on the Hope Diamond.
Three light-skinned people in brimmed hats and coats
1910: The French jewelry house Cartier purchased the Hope Diamond and began seeking a buyer
A light-skinned woman with dark hair wears the Hope Diamond necklace
1912: Pierre Cartier sold the Hope Diamond to Ned and Evalyn Walsh McLean for $180,000. Before he made the sale, he commissioned a contemporary setting to make it more appealing to the McLeans.
A collection of bracelets, necklaces, and earrings on a black backdrop
1947: Evalyn Walsh McLean passed away at the age of 60. Two years later, the Hope Diamond and the rest of her jewelry collection were purchased by Harry Winston, Inc.
Portrait of a light-skinned man in a suit holding a pair of glasses
1949: Harry Winston purchased the Hope Diamond from Evalyn Walsh McLean’s estate. He exhibited the Hope Diamond worldwide in his Court of Jewels exhibit for several years.
A large building featuring a dome and two wings
1958: Harry Winston, Inc. donated the Hope Diamond to the National Gem Collection. The National Museum of Natural History put it on display in a new exhibit.
People milling on a stone plaza in front of the Louvre
1962: The Hope Diamond was exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France
The Hope Diamond mounted in a spiderweb in a rose bush
1965: The Hope Diamond traveled to Johannesburg, South Africa for the Rand Easter Show
The front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art at night
1982: The Hope Diamond was displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Harry Winston, Inc.
The Hope Diamond on display in a glass case at NMNH
1997: The Hope Diamond was put on display in the new Harry Winston Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History
Hope Diamond in a necklace with ribbons of baguette-cut diamonds
2009-2010: The Hope Diamond was exhibited unmounted and then set in a temporary commemorative necklace designed by Harry Winston, Inc. to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian.
Close-up of the Hope Diamond, a large blue diamond mounted in a necklace
Today, the Hope Diamond remains on exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History, where millions of visitors have the chance to see it each year
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FAQs

We at the Smithsonian like to say that the Hope Diamond is priceless. Its size, color, and eventful history, as well as its long tenure at the heart of the Smithsonian's gem collection, make it a true American treasure. In any case, it's not for sale!

What can we say about the value of a gem like the Hope, if we're not going to commit to a specific number? A large part of a gem's value comes from its physical properties: color, clarity, cut, and carat weight. But other, less tangible factors can also increase the value of a gem. For example, as Pierre Cartier recognized a hundred years ago, an eventful, well-documented history is important, as are the tastes and means of an individual buyer. The price of an individual stone reflects the confluence of these and other factors.

Blue diamonds like the Hope are very rare, and the money being spent to purchase them is enormous. Several large blue diamonds have fetched tens of millions of dollars at auction in recent years. In 2008, the 35.56-ct Wittelsbach-Graff diamond sold for $24.3M.In 2014, the 9.75-ct Zoe diamond sold for $32.6M and the 13.22-ct Winston Blue diamond sold for $24.2M. Less well-documented private sales of famous stones such as the Heart of Eternity and the Wittelsbach-Graff may have fetched even higher prices.

Gemologists from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) visited the Smithsonian in 1988 to grade the Hope Diamond. They observed that the gem showed evidence of wear, that it had a remarkably strong phosphorescence, and that its clarity was slightly affected by a whitish graining that is common to blue diamonds. They described its color as fancy dark grayish-blue and its clarity as VS1 (Crowningshield 1989).

In 1996, the Hope Diamond necklace was sent to Harry Winston, Inc. for cleaning and minor restoration work. The diamond was removed from its setting and re-examined by the GIA. In this report, the Hope's color was described as a a natural fancy deep grayish-blue (reflecting a change in GIA's nomenclature for grading, not a change in the assessment of the diamond).

For many years, the weight of the Hope Diamond was not precisely known, with reports of its weight ranging from 44 carats to 45.5 carats. On November 13, 1975, the Hope Diamond was removed from its setting and found to weigh 45.52 carats.