How much hope diamond worth

Despite its curse McLean would not sell the diamond, hoping to prevent anyone else from suffering from its curse. Upon her death, the Hope Diamond was found in a shoebox under her bed. In , Harry Winston purchased the diamond from Mrs. It was placed in a box and wrapped in brown paper. The Hope Diamond, now on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

This is the packaging that shipped the Hope Diamond registered mail. The necklace chain contains 45 white diamonds. In December of , a team from the Gemological Institute of America visited the Smithsonian to grade the great blue stone using present day techniques.

They observed that the gem shows evidence of wear, has a remarkably strong phosphorescence, and that its clarity is slightly affected by a whitish graining which is common to blue diamonds. They described the color as a fancy dark grayish-blue. An examination on the same day by another gemologist using a very sensitive colorimeter revealed that there is a very slight violet component to the deep blue color which is imperceptible to the naked eye.

Hope Diamond. Wolper and the Hope Diamond. Smithsonian Institution Archives Dr. George Switzer with Hope Diamond. Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian's th Anniversary.

Back to Top. Ned McLean dies in a sanatorium from brain atrophy due to alcohol saturation. Evalyn's only daughter dies of a drug overdose at the age of twenty-five. Indian mining towns are among the wealthiest cities in the world. Gem merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier makes his first of six trips to the Orient.

When it resurfaced again in , it was in the hands of a diamond merchant in London named Daniel Eliason, who eventually sold it to yet another king — this time, King George IV of the United Kingdom. When Lord Francis eventually sold it in to pay off his debts, it went through a series of jewel merchants. Rosenau finally sold the gem to Pierre Cartier , the acclaimed jeweler in Paris. Cartier had little interest in passing the diamond to another merchant, instead, turning his eye to the supply of wealthy American socialites.

He found his ideal target in Evalyn Walsh McLean, the heiress to a multimillionaire who literally struck gold working as a miner. McLean was fascinated with diamonds and other gems, so Cartier made every effort to sell her the Hope Diamond.

After a few failed attempts, he succeeded in persuading her by leaving the diamond in her hands for a week, long enough for her to become attached to it. Then, following a frustratingly long process, McLean finally purchased the diamond in and maintained ownership of it for the rest of her life.