A DOCUMENTARY on Arte this month will retrace the history of how one of the world's most famous diamonds, which is on show in America's Smithsonian Museum, turned out to
have been part of the crown jewels of France.
The Hope Diamond, said to be insured for at least $250 million, was proved in 2008 to be the French Blue, recut to disguise it. The diamond was stolen in 1792 by a mob from the Garde-Meuble Royal (today the Hôtel de la Marine) in Paris, along with the rest of the crown jewels.
The thieves were arrested by the revolutionary police and most of the jewels recovered, but the whereabouts of the French Blue remained a mystery.
A la Poursuite du Diamant Bleu retraces how François Farges, a jewellery expert from Paris's Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, proved that rumours about the Hope were true.
The key element was the discovery of a lead model of the French Blue, whose appearance was previously only known from two engravings.
On his appointment as head of the gems collection, Prof Farges organised an update of the inventory. He said: "A technician came across this triangular lead object in a diamond drawer. At first I thought it was a copy of a diamond from the 19th century, but when I turned it over I saw the corolla of facets typical of the 17th century and I broke out in a cold sweat. I knew straight away the major discovery we had made, that we had to scan it and compare it to the Hope."
Prof Farges said the engravings had been inadequate to carry out a conclusive comparison of the Hope and French Blue. However, comparing the model to them and weighing it to work out the original carats confirmed it was the French Blue, which has a seven-pointed motif on one side shaped like the Sun, perhaps a reference to its first owner, Louis XIV, Le Roi Soleil.
Prof Farges then had the model scanned and compared with one of the Hope: "It was a wonderful discovery. It allowed me to prove this story that was going around among jewellers, that the blue diamond had been recut to make the Hope. Everyone was saying it, but no one had any proof."
He thought his detective work was over, until he decided to search the archives for a description of the lead model, but it had been wrongly labelled.
However the next item down was "a model of a diamond, remarkable for limpidity, belonging to Mr Hoppe of London", donated by a Paris jeweller, Charles Achard. The archive items had been mixed up, and showed for the first time that Hope, a London banker after whom the diamond is named, acquired it before it was recut.
Prof Farges said: "I think the model was made in a London workshop where the diamond was recut, probably in 1811. It seems odd it was given to France during the Napoleonic
Wars; Hope risked being prosecuted for receiving what he must have known were stolen goods. I think that's why it was given discreetly and without saying it was of a blue diamond. He must have known the diamond was extraordinary, and wanted to give the model to France, at the risk of his reputation."
Prof Farges said Hope was a great collector of diamonds, with a special interest in blues: "I would be very surprised if he didn't know where this one was from."
It is thought Hope had the French Blue recut because of financial difficulties. "He was ruined in 1811 because of Napoleon's blockade, which devalued the pound by 90 per cent. I think he pawned the diamond, but first he had it recut, as otherwise his complicity in receiving stolen goods could be proved."
Hope was evidently able to retrieve it when his fortunes improved, as the (now 46-carat) diamond appeared in his estate, in 1839, after which it remained in the family before being sold to an American jeweller.
The story of the French Blue starts in the 17th century, when Jean-Baptise Tavernier, a supplier of gems to Versailles, came back from his sixth trip to the Orient with a diamond of an exceptionally dark blue from Golkonda in the southeast of India, of about 115 carats (the size of a walnut). Bigger than any other in the royal collection
and the largest blue diamond ever known, it was bought by Louis XIV, cut down to 69 carats and placed in a brooch.
The French Blue became the centrepiece of Louis XV's Grand Insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which passed to Louis XVI, who wore it at the Estates General in 1789 just before the Revolution broke out.
Legend had it the diamond was cursed: supposedly it had been stolen from a statue of the goddess Sita by a Hindu priest, who was tortured to death; the merchant who brought it back was supposed to have been later eaten by wild dogs.
Fouquet, Louis XIV's financial controller, who fell into disfavour and ended his life in jail, was said to have borrowed it. Louis XVI was guillotined.
Prof Farges said the scan of the model enabled him to have a zircon replica made. Experts uner Hebert Horovitz in Geneva recreated the insignia over four years, using silver and synthetic stones: "In June last year, 218 years after it was stolen, we presented it at the Hôtel de la Marine."
Prof Farges is seeking a benefactor to pay for the piece, which cost €50,000. "The museum doesn't have money for it and philanthropists are deserting us. Last year donations to museums fell 61 per cent and this year it is worse. I would not be surprised if an American buys it and gives it to the Smithsonian, but I would like it to stay in France."
