There Always Hope for a Catalogue of the Collection of Pearls and Precious Stones

On the 22nd of September a catalogue of pearls and precious stones will go under the hammer in London as part of Bonham’s auctions. This catalogue is special for one reason, it was created by Henry Philip Hope.

So of course cutting to the chase Hope as in you guessed it the “Le bleu de France ” 45.52 carats (9.10 g), deep-blue diamond. of course movie goers will think instantly of the heart of the ocean featured on the lovely Décollage of  Kate Winslet in Titanic. It is rumored that the Hope Diamond was the muse for this sub plot

The true story went a little along the lines of this when the French merchant traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier purchased a 112 3/16-carat diamond. This diamond, which was most likely from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India.  Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668 with 14 other large diamonds and several smaller ones.

King Louis XV, in 1749, had the stone reset by court jeweler Andre Jacquemin, in a piece of ceremonial jewelry for the Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison D’Or). In 1791, after an attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to flee France, the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were turned over to the government. During a week-long looting of the crown jewels in September of 1792, the French Blue diamond was stolen. 

The  “Le bleu de France ” did not reappear until 1812 in London. Evidence suggests that King George IV of England purchased the recut diamond in 1820. Sometime after George IV’s death in 1830, the diamond was purchased by Henry Philip Hope, whose name it bears today.

Following the death of Henry Philip Hope in 1839, and after much litigation, the Hope diamond passed to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and ultimately to the nephew’s grandson Lord Francis Hope. In 1901 Lord Francis Hope obtained permission from the Court of Chancery and his sisters to sell the “Le bleu de France ”  to help pay off his debts.

It was sold to a London dealer who quickly sold it to Joseph Frankels and Sons of New York City, who retained the stone in New York until they, in turn, needed cash. The “Le bleu de France ” was next sold to Selim Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. It did not sell at the auction but was sold soon after to C.H. Rosenau and then resold to Pierre Cartier that same year.

In 1910 the Hope diamond was shown to Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, of Washington D.C., at Cartier’s in Paris, but she did not like the setting. Cartier had the diamond reset and took it to the U.S. where he left it with Mrs. McLean for a weekend. This strategy was successful. The sale was made in 1911 with the diamond mounted as a headpiece on a three-tiered circlet of large white diamonds.   Mrs. McLean’s flamboyant ownership of the stone lasted until her death in 1947.

Finally, in 1949 Harry Winston purchased the diamond, including it in his Court of Jewels collection, which toured the world for charity. In 1958, Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains today.  The Hope Diamond is currently in a platinum setting, surrounded by sixteen white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds, suspended from a chain containing forty-five diamonds – the original design by Pierre Cartier around 1910.

When exposed to ultraviolet light, the Hope Diamond exhibits fiery red phosphorescence that continues for more than a minute. The mysterious phenomenon added to the Hope Diamond’s mystique and allure. However, the mystery has now been solved. Recent research thanks to the curator of the National Gem Collection and mineralogist, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and six other researchers probed the phosphorescence of the Hope Diamond and other natural blue diamonds and discovered a way to “fingerprint” individual blue diamonds.

Earlier this year in March 2010 The Smithsonian marked the anniversary by commissioning a new setting for the 45.52-carat dark blue Hope, from Harry Winston, of course. The Hope will be returned to its old setting by the end of 2010. You can look at all the designs submitted via this link to design your hope    

So with all this talk of hope there is only one piece of the catalogue left to talk about and that is the Hope Pearl

Although perfectly round cultured pearls are prized today, years ago, naturally grown odd-shaped pearls were considered highly valuable as nature’s perfect creation. The Hope Pearl is the largest natural pearl in the world, a 450-carat natural pearl.

 Another one that comes close is  the “Paspaley Pearl,” harvested off Australia in 2002, is the only cultured pearl that Smithsonian institute has exhibited in their  “The Allure of Pearls,” exhibit. It is highly valued for its large size, 50 percent larger than most large South Seas pearls.

Anyway back to the matter at hand, to register for this catalogue  follow the link to Bonham’s and remember its 22nd of September so be quick.

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4670166&iSaleNo=17850&iSaleSectionNo=1

OR

Contact the Specialist to discuss this lot or selling in a future sale
Email: Emily Barber
Tel: +44 207 468 8278

All I want for christmas is  A Catalogue of the Collection of Pearls and Precious Stones, oh yes this is not any catalogue this is Henry Philip Hope’s catalogue…. swoon