FarewellFire
DSC03145
"The Hope Diamond"
Of all the objects found at the grand Smithsonian Museum of National History in Washington DC (and trust me, the competition's fierce and plenty) the Hope Diamond is probably the most interesting.
This deep-blue diamond is not only huge and is widely considered to be cursed (albeit not by the staff at the Smithsonian who cheerily claims it to be a lucky charm of the museum), it also draws from a history of the sort that would make anyone or anything jealous.
Originally dug out of the earth in India, it was later sold to the French king Louis XIV who had the shiny rock cut into a piece of dazzling jewelry. Passed down through generations of French royalty, it later ended up around the neck of a certain Marie Antoinette (although some historians claimed that she never wore it since it was reserved for the king). Anyway, then rose the revolution, heads rolled and the rest is history.
Via a complicated route the Hope Diamond later found it's way to America, after a string of owners in both the UK and Turkey passed it onwards. Finally, in 1958 a wealthy jeweller by the name Harry Winston donated (!) the rock by sending it in a regular brown paper box via US Mail (!!) to the Smithsonian where it is now the main attraction in their vast collection of gems and stones. It is currently valued at up to 250 million dollars.
DSC03145
"The Hope Diamond"
Of all the objects found at the grand Smithsonian Museum of National History in Washington DC (and trust me, the competition's fierce and plenty) the Hope Diamond is probably the most interesting.
This deep-blue diamond is not only huge and is widely considered to be cursed (albeit not by the staff at the Smithsonian who cheerily claims it to be a lucky charm of the museum), it also draws from a history of the sort that would make anyone or anything jealous.
Originally dug out of the earth in India, it was later sold to the French king Louis XIV who had the shiny rock cut into a piece of dazzling jewelry. Passed down through generations of French royalty, it later ended up around the neck of a certain Marie Antoinette (although some historians claimed that she never wore it since it was reserved for the king). Anyway, then rose the revolution, heads rolled and the rest is history.
Via a complicated route the Hope Diamond later found it's way to America, after a string of owners in both the UK and Turkey passed it onwards. Finally, in 1958 a wealthy jeweller by the name Harry Winston donated (!) the rock by sending it in a regular brown paper box via US Mail (!!) to the Smithsonian where it is now the main attraction in their vast collection of gems and stones. It is currently valued at up to 250 million dollars.