The Hope Diamond was formed deep within the Earth approximately 1.1 billion years ago. It was made from carbon atoms to form strong bonds making it a diamond. It became embedded with kimberlite but eroded by wind and rain, resulting in its placement among gravel deposits. The first known diamond mine was in the Golconda region of India, although by 1725 diamonds had been discovered in Brazil. The Hope Diamond contains trace amount of boron atoms intermixed with the carbon structure, which results in the blue color of the diamond, according to the Smithsonian.
Quotes On Hope #1
Several accounts, based on remarks written by the gem's first known owner, French gem merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, suggest the gemstone originated in India, in the Kollur mine in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh (which at the time had been part of the Golconda kingdom), in the seventeenth century. It is unclear who had initially owned the gemstone, whether it had been found, by whom, and in what condition. But the first historical records suggest that a French merchant-traveler named Jean-Baptiste Tavernier obtained the stone, possibly by purchase or by theft, and he brought a large uncut stone to Paris which was the first known precursor to the Hope Diamond. This large stone became known as the Tavernier Blue diamond. It was a crudely cut triangular shaped stone of 115 carats (23 g). Another estimate is that it weighed 112.23 carats (22.45 g) before it was cut. Tavernier's book, the Six Voyages (French: Le Six Voyages de...), contains sketches of several large diamonds that he sold to Louis XIV in possibly 1668 or 1669; while the blue diamond is shown among these, Tavernier mentions the mines at "Gani" Kollur as a source of colored diamonds, but made no direct mention of the stone. Historian Richard Kurin builds a highly speculative case for 1653 as the year of acquisition, but the most that can be said with certainty is that Tavernier obtained the blue diamond during one of his five voyages to India between the years 1640 and 1667. One report suggests he took 25 diamonds to Paris, including the large rock which became the Hope, and sold all of them to King Louis XIV. Another report suggested that in 1669, Tavernier sold this large blue diamond along with approximately one thousand other diamonds to King Louis XIV of France for 220,000 livres, the equivalent of 147 kilograms of pure gold. In a newly published historical novel, The French Blue, gemologist and historian Richard W. Wise proposed that the patent of nobility granted Tavernier by Louis XIV was a part of the payment for the Tavernier Blue. According to the theory, during that period Colbert, the king's Finance Minister, regularly sold offices and noble titles for cash, and an outright patent of nobility, according to Wise, was worth approximately 500,000 livres making a total of 720,000 livres, a price much closer to the true value of the gem. There has been some controversy regarding the actual weight of the stone; Morel believed that the 1123⁄16 carats stated in Tavernier's invoice would be in old French carats, thus 115.28 metric carats.
Faith, Hope, Love
In 1678, Louis XIV commissioned the court jeweller, Sieur Pitau, to recut the Tavernier Blue, resulting in a 67.125-carat (13.425 g) stone which royal inventories thereafter listed as the Blue Diamond of the Crown of France (diamant bleu de la Couronne de France), but later English-speaking historians have simply called it the French Blue. The king had the stone set on a cravat-pin. According to one report, Louis ordered Pitau to "make him a piece to remember", and Pitau took two years on the piece, resulting in a "triangular-shaped 69-carat gem the size of a pigeon's egg that took the breath away as it snared the light, reflecting it back in bluish-grey rays." It was set in gold and was supported by a ribbon for the neck which was worn by the king during ceremonies.
hope looms on the horizon?
Inspiring Quotes on Hope
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Quotes On Hope #1
Several accounts, based on remarks written by the gem's first known owner, French gem merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier, suggest the gemstone originated in India, in the Kollur mine in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh (which at the time had been part of the Golconda kingdom), in the seventeenth century. It is unclear who had initially owned the gemstone, whether it had been found, by whom, and in what condition. But the first historical records suggest that a French merchant-traveler named Jean-Baptiste Tavernier obtained the stone, possibly by purchase or by theft, and he brought a large uncut stone to Paris which was the first known precursor to the Hope Diamond. This large stone became known as the Tavernier Blue diamond. It was a crudely cut triangular shaped stone of 115 carats (23 g). Another estimate is that it weighed 112.23 carats (22.45 g) before it was cut. Tavernier's book, the Six Voyages (French: Le Six Voyages de...), contains sketches of several large diamonds that he sold to Louis XIV in possibly 1668 or 1669; while the blue diamond is shown among these, Tavernier mentions the mines at "Gani" Kollur as a source of colored diamonds, but made no direct mention of the stone. Historian Richard Kurin builds a highly speculative case for 1653 as the year of acquisition, but the most that can be said with certainty is that Tavernier obtained the blue diamond during one of his five voyages to India between the years 1640 and 1667. One report suggests he took 25 diamonds to Paris, including the large rock which became the Hope, and sold all of them to King Louis XIV. Another report suggested that in 1669, Tavernier sold this large blue diamond along with approximately one thousand other diamonds to King Louis XIV of France for 220,000 livres, the equivalent of 147 kilograms of pure gold. In a newly published historical novel, The French Blue, gemologist and historian Richard W. Wise proposed that the patent of nobility granted Tavernier by Louis XIV was a part of the payment for the Tavernier Blue. According to the theory, during that period Colbert, the king's Finance Minister, regularly sold offices and noble titles for cash, and an outright patent of nobility, according to Wise, was worth approximately 500,000 livres making a total of 720,000 livres, a price much closer to the true value of the gem. There has been some controversy regarding the actual weight of the stone; Morel believed that the 1123⁄16 carats stated in Tavernier's invoice would be in old French carats, thus 115.28 metric carats.
Faith, Hope, Love
In 1678, Louis XIV commissioned the court jeweller, Sieur Pitau, to recut the Tavernier Blue, resulting in a 67.125-carat (13.425 g) stone which royal inventories thereafter listed as the Blue Diamond of the Crown of France (diamant bleu de la Couronne de France), but later English-speaking historians have simply called it the French Blue. The king had the stone set on a cravat-pin. According to one report, Louis ordered Pitau to "make him a piece to remember", and Pitau took two years on the piece, resulting in a "triangular-shaped 69-carat gem the size of a pigeon's egg that took the breath away as it snared the light, reflecting it back in bluish-grey rays." It was set in gold and was supported by a ribbon for the neck which was worn by the king during ceremonies.
hope looms on the horizon?
Inspiring Quotes on Hope
hope-quotes, no-hope, z_ro,
hope ya liked the quotes!
