ROMANCE OF "HOPE" DIAMOND

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 77, 2 April 1910, Page 3

ROMANCE OF "HOPE" DIAMOND

A WONDERFUL STONE. SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN LOST IN A WRECK. With the recent wrecking of the French steamer Seyne in the China Sea, recently wrote Alfred Free, in the Springfield Republican, one ot the mot>t famous diamonds of history has probably disappeared for ever irom human eyes. Tho history of the stone is somewhat obscure in its earlier phases, but its romance may be quite clearly traced from the date at which it came into tho possession of the French monarch, Louis XIV., until, with its latest owner, Selim Habid, it probably sank to the bottom of the Malacca Strait. Tho stone, while in the possession of the Hop© family, of England, from which it received its name, was described as a splendid gem of a remarkable violet-blue colour, and weighing 44>z carats. Its history is almost as unique as its colour. It is supposed that Louis XIV. once owned it. At least we. are told that he acquired in some way, not clearly stated, a remarkable blue diamond, weighing 67£ carats, which wa3 regarded as the most valuable of the crown jewels at the time when Louis XVI. was beheaded in i 793. When the Royal treasures wero looted this blue stone disappeared ; but some have sought to connect it with the famous Hope diamond, which appeared in 1830, ■when one Daniel Eliason, a London dealer, offered for sale a blue stone which hi declared he had bought from a stranger. The buyer of this gem was Henry- Philip Hope, a banker of immense wealth, and tho purchase price was said to have been 90,000 dollars. -When the banker's daughter married the Duke of Newcastle she received the gem as a marriage gift from her father ; and from her it passed into tho possession of her second son, Lord Francis Hope. AN EARLIER PERIOD. But there are hints of the stone which call our attention to a period, earlier than that of Louis XIV. John Baptiste Tavernier was the sqn of an Antwerp geographer, who after wide travels had settled in Paris. This man began his travels in early life and before he reached the age of thirty he had travelled practically all over Europe and Asia. He spent much time in India, -where he is said to have bought a wonderful blue I diamond, weighing 112^ carats. But. although he was a somewhat voluminous" writer and especially interested in gems of unusual colours, and left many interesting accounts of the eastern manner of buying and selling gems, he failed to disclose the origin of the great blue diamond. He does speak of the Coleroon mines of India as the source of many coloured gems, and it may be presumed that the stone under consideration came originally from there. And this is probably the stone which Louis XIV. acquired in 1668. Tho differences in weight of i)r? stone that are given at various points in its career are to be accounted for by recuttings. Diamond cutting was not among the arts of France at that period, and although Cardinal Mazarin made efforts to develop the craft by bringing in diamond cutters from Amsterdam and by having his own and the diamonds of the king Tecut, the industry made no advance. So when in 1776 a large nnmber of diamonds be- ! longing to the French crown were sold to .secure money for the cost of re-cut-ting the remaining gems, the work had to do done in Antwerp or Amsterdam. In one of these Dutch cities the Tavernier blue stone, was cut into an irregularly shaped brilliant, by which its weight was reduced to 67£ carats. IGNOMINIOUS PHASE OF ITS CAREER. It was soon destined to pass through an ignominious phase of its career, for, in 1792, that year of baleful memories, thieves entered the Garde Meuble, and carried off the French crown jewels. Some days thereafter the Regent diamond, the most famous of all the stones belonging to the ill-fated crown, ! was found in tho Allee dcs Veuves of the Champs Elysees ; but the blue stona was never seen again in its old' form. However, in 1830 a wonderful blue gem appeared again upon the market. It was in possession of the Daniel Eliason before mentioned. Beyond a statement that he had bought it from a stranger no information concerning its previous history was obtained. This Btone was certainly smaller than the celebrated French gem, and when Henry Philip Hope bought it he gave to it the name by which it has since been known. ] THE MAD DIAMOND MISER. Twenty-four years later the Duke of Brunswick, who was known as the mad diamond miser, and who had acquired a great horde of almost priceless stones, ended his qareer. Among the Brunswick _ diamonds there was found a beautiful blue etone of considerable weight — about a dozen carats. Diamond experts and authorities examined this gem carefully and compared it with the Hope blue. The stones were identical in colour and quality. Their united weight, added to the loss from recutting, wculd just about give the weight of the French stone. So it seemed probable that the Hope diamond and the Brunswick diamond had together formed the stone which Tavemier brought from India. The famous gem passed to Lord | Francis Hope at the beginning of his wild and dissolute career ; and when in 1894 he married the English actress, j May Yohe, tho stone began to flash above the footlights upon the American stage. But Lord Francis-and his actress bride were incampatible and after seven years divorce followed. Thereupon he 6old the blue diamond to Simon Fran- : kel for 68,000 dollars. Joseph Frankel's Sons and Co., sought to sell tho gem to a Xew York millionaire, but were unsuccessful ; and the prize lay so long in a safo deposit vault in New York 'that great financial loss was threatened in the panic of 1907, from such an unrprodvrctive holding. - j In the next year Selim Habid, an ori- ■ ental, bought the gem, it is said at a price not far short of 400,000 dollars, j .Last year, under the burden of unlook- | ed for financial troubles, he . sold many of his fin© diamonds, and it was reported in Paris that Louis Aucoc, the leading diamond expert of France, had bought the Hope stone, and that it J afterwards passed to one of Aucoc's clients. But thoso who best know the romantic history of ihe gem, and have watched its career most closely, are convinced that it remained in tho possession of Selim Habid, and went with him to the bottom of the China sea. And so ends the story of one of the most wonderful diamonds ever seen. [On~the 18th instant, a cable message stated that a diver explored the wreck of the La Seyne, that he had recovered tho ship's safe, but that the diamond, was not in it.]

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