New look for the Hope Diamond
By Nadine Kam
The Hope Diamond will be placed in a new setting to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its donation to the Smithsonian Institution, and the public is invited to vote for their favorite setting. The designs, from left are Journey of Hope, Embracing Hope and Renewed Hope.
The world’s most famous diamond, the Hope Diamond, will get a makeover, a special re-design to honor the 50th Anniversary of its donation to the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, a gift to the American people by legendary jeweler Harry Winston.
The Smithsonian Institution and Smithsonian Channel will celebrate the diamond’s legacy by inviting the American public to vote on a new design for the 45.52-carat blue diamond.
Voting started online today, continuing through Sept. 7 at http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/hope.html. The House of Harry Winston has designed three possible settings, each symbolizing modern Hope in America. The winning setting will be revealed in Washington, D.C., in the fall. Then the Hope Diamond will go on display in its new setting, coinciding with the world premiere of the Smithsonian Channel’s “Mystery of the Hope Diamond” in March, 2010.
The diamond will return to its original setting by 2010’s year end. I imagine there’s demand for all those white diamonds.
For those who don’t know the diamond’s history, the Hope is the largest deep blue diamond in the world, and is associated with a curse, that all who owned or touched it, including Marie Antoinette — who probably never wore it because it was reserved for use by Louis XVI — met with tragedy. The diamond takes its name from an 1839 catalog of Henry Philip Hope’s gem collection.
