Where is the Heart of the Ocean diamond now?

The luxurious “Heart of the Ocean” necklace gained worldwide popularity thanks to the movie “Titanic”, where the young artist Jack Dawson draws his beloved Rose, who is wearing nothing but jewelry with a dark blue stone. Stills from the film “Titanic” When James Cameron began filming the film Titanic, he sought to maintain maximum verisimilitude in everything. Most of the characters had real prototypes, and even in small things the director tried to be accurate. The props from Titanic are called the most detailed in the world of cinema. Literally every thing that appeared in the frame had its own story. And the “Heart of the Ocean” pendant, because of which serious passions flare up in the film, had its own prototype, and, according to rumors, it brought nothing but misfortune to its owners. The “Hope” diamond is a likely prototype for the “Heart of the Ocean” pendant. In the movie Titanic, Rose, played by Kate Winslet, receives a precious necklace with a heart-shaped pendant as a gift from her fiancé. This piece of jewelry actually existed! The original was first mentioned during the reign of Louis XIV, when the jeweler Tavernier brought it from a trip to India. Initially, this stone was used during ritual sacrifices; for four centuries in a row it was sprinkled with the blood of people and animals. Later he began to decorate the forehead of the Hindu deity, one version suggests that it was a statue of Sita, another – Shiva. Legend has it that higher powers placed a curse on the diamond after it was stolen and smuggled out of India. At the time of its presentation to Louis XIV, the stone was poorly cut, its shape was a triangle, and its weight was one hundred and fifteen carats. The uniqueness of the diamond lay in its size and rich color, which can be found quite rarely in nature. The King of France ordered a new cut for the stone (as a result of which it began to weigh 67 carats less) and placed it in a gold pendant. Soon the jewel brought by Tavernier became an adornment of the royal crown and was called the “blue diamond of the French crown” or “blue Frenchman”. The remaining parts that were left over from the re-cutting were taken over by different people. Soon after the diamond’s appearance in Europe, it began to fall into disrepute: many believed that this event brought the plague and led to the death of Tavernier and Louis. Skeptical historians recall that the first of them died at eighty-three years old, and the second at seventy-eight. After this, the pendant was given to Marie Antoinette and allegedly brought numerous misfortunes to her, ending with her execution. Then for some time its history was not traced; during the French Revolution it was kidnapped by unknown persons and was first mentioned only in the 1830s. Henry Hope and the Hope Diamond Then the diamond ended up in the collection of British banker Henry Hope, was embedded in a necklace, which led to a loss of up to forty-five carats in weight, and was named “Hope.” Due to the altered cut, many experts have doubted the authenticity of the “Blue Diamond of the French Crown”. This was also influenced by the fact that there were no misfortunes in Hope’s life; over time, the jewelry was sold by his heirs to the Turkish Sultan, after which the jeweler Pierre Cartier took possession of it; based on some information, it can be judged that it was he who gave the stone the shape of a heart. Subsequently, the decoration became the property of Evelyn Walsh-McLean, who lives in America. Her life was accompanied by numerous tragedies, the main of which was the death of her son and daughter. Following Evelyn’s death, the diamond put up for sale became the acquisition of jeweler Harry Winston, who, in turn, donated the jewelry to the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, located in Washington. It is believed that the last person to suffer from the cursed diamond was a courier who was hit by a car on the same day after delivery, and some time later his family died in a fire. Scientists do not take all these dramatic coincidences seriously, and many of them believe that the Heart of the Ocean necklace has nothing to do with the Hope Stone . How does Rose’s “Heart of the Ocean” pendant from the movie “Titanic” differ from its prototype? In fact, the original was several times smaller than its screen counterpart; Rose’s necklace is decorated with a stone of about 350 carats – for greater spectacle. The shape and cut of the diamond (tanzanite was used instead of diamond in the film) were similar to the original, but the setting was different. The decoration appeared in the frame several times and immediately attracted the attention of viewers. Many of them dreamed of owning the same. A similar necklace was exhibited in 1998 at Christie’s in London. The 13,75-carat stone was sold for $7 million to an unknown owner. Pendant “Heart of the Ocean” on the heroine of the film “Titanic” The director intentionally made the pendant noticeable; this helped to create a greater effect and draw attention to it. The film “Titanic” was a stunning success; its many fans dreamed of purchasing such a necklace; many jewelry and costume jewelry manufacturing companies did not miss the opportunity to take advantage of this. The “Heart of the Ocean” diamond, or more precisely, its numerous copies, allowed enterprising manufacturers to earn huge fortunes. The mass production of necklace doubles was designed for buyers with different income levels. Precious or semi-precious stones were used in their production; in addition, the fake could be in the form of simple and cheap jewelry. A modern copy of jewelry from the movie “Titanic” In the wake of the popularity of the film, enterprising owners of jewelry companies and costume jewelry manufacturers earned a fortune – they began to mass produce copies of the “Heart of the Ocean” necklace, designed for buyers with different financial capabilities. These jewelry are in great demand to this day – dozens of websites offer to purchase “Heart of the Ocean”, both from precious and semi-precious stones, and in the form of budget jewelry. In 1997, American director James Cameron gave the world the amazing film Titanic. This is an incredible story of a touching love between two young people, which takes place against the backdrop of one of the most horrific disasters of the last century.

Necklace Heart of the Ocean: story from the film and reality

Let’s start with the main characters, whose love story was directly related to the golden necklace. The girl Rose from a noble family goes on a journey with her fiancé Caledon and mother Ruth. Already on the ship she meets a young artist named Jack. He shouldn’t have been on the ship because he couldn’t afford a ticket. But literally on the day of departure, he wins a ticket from a potential passenger. Feelings immediately flare up between the young people, which makes Caledon very unhappy. In order to somehow return Rose’s interest and show her that he can provide for both his future wife and her mother, he gives the girl the Heart of the Ocean necklace.

Possible prototypes of a luxury diamond

• Hope diamond (or Hope diamond);
• blue diamond with unknown history.

Diamond Hope is the most likely prototype of the Heart of the Ocean

This stone has a long and even tragic history. It was presented to the King of France by the famous jeweler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. It is believed that the stone originally adorned a statue of a Hindu deity. The royal family kept the diamond until the end of the 1830th century, and then disappeared. In the XNUMXs, a similar stone, but smaller in size, was acquired by a British man named Hope. From the family of this Englishman, the diamond came to the Turkish Sultan, then Pierre Cartier bought it and created a luxurious necklace based on it. In the form of a finished product, the stone managed to be the property of several other people, and is now in the Smithsonian Institution.

This piece of jewelry is similar in color and size to the Heart of the Ocean necklace, but the shapes of the diamonds are different. Why can’t the Hope Diamond be a real diamond from the real Titanic? At the moment, historians have already proven that the Hope Diamond at the time of the tragedy belonged to Evelyn McLean, who bought it in 1911. The diamond is often called cursed, so this was one of the reasons for its sale.

Mughal Blue Diamond

The second theory has fewer fans, especially among historians, but also has a right to exist. It is believed that the prototype could have been the pendants of the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahangir. The history of this decoration is even more confusing and mysterious. This is a large stone that resembles a heart. It was last seen and then sold at a British auction at the end of the 20th century.

It was a 13,75 carat blue diamond. It was sold for 7 million and 791 thousand US dollars. Now the owner and whereabouts of the gem are unknown.

Modern copies of the Heart of the Ocean necklace

Some jewelers, looking at the photo of the Heart of the Ocean necklace, had a great desire to make a copy. And today there are quite a lot of such replicas. The official copies are those produced by the J. Peterman Company – they cost about $200, and after the bankruptcy of the company, the price doubled. The most famous replica is considered to be the model created by Harry Winston. It features a 2 carat diamond.

It was this necklace that Gloria Stewart wore to the Academy Awards when she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. In the film she played the elderly Rose. It is interesting that the actress, like her character, lived to be 100 years old, and was born two years before the shipwreck.

The heart of the ocean is a necklace with a unique history. It was able to go far beyond the plot of the film and become an independent decoration. If you want to find the original Heart of the Ocean necklace, you will have to turn to private collections. By the way, during the filming they used 3 necklaces, not just one. And they were made of different materials (platinum and white gold), and the role of the blue diamond was “played” by cubic zirconia and sapphire. Two of the three necklaces are now in the possession of private collectors, and the third disappeared after the bankruptcy of the J. Peterman Company – the company paid them off for its debts.