“french blue” diamond - Muséum national d`Histoire naturelle

MUSÉUM
NATIONAL
D’HISTOIRE
NATURELLE
TWO MAJOR DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE
“FRENCH BLUE” DIAMOND
Kings and Fences
In 1671, King Louis XIV of
France ordered the recut
of his 115 carat blue diamond, a polished rough
diamond brought back
from India by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier in 1668.
The resulting deep blue diamond of 69 carat was one of the
three greatest diamonds of the
French Crown jewels, ornementing the masterpiece of French
baroque jewelry: the “Color Emblem of the Golden Fleece” of
King Louis XV.
In 1792, the diamond is stolen
during the French Revolution.
The mythic blue diamond will
never reappear.
Thirty years after, a new deep
blue diamond appears in London,
within Henry Philip’s Hope collection. The new diamond
weights only 45.5 carats and will
later be called the “Hope” diamond.
Soon, experts started to question:
was not the “Hope” recut from
the stolen French diamond? However, no replica of the original
gem was known
to proove this.
Until 2008...
the French Blue cast
The discovery of the lead cast of the “French Blue”
diamond in Paris makes possible the exact reedition of
this mythic diamond, unfortunately stolen in 1792.
virtual
reconstruction
of the mythic
“French Blue”
diamond, as set
originally by Louis XIV.
An antique cast of a
large diamond was discovered at the Muséum national d’ Histoire naturelle in Paris.
A detailled study of the
cast, readily showed that
the cast is no less that of
the “French Blue”, a 69
carat deep blue diamond,
previously
known
t h r o u g h i n co n s i s te n t
drawings.
Thanks to the latest
laser and computer rendering technologies, the
mythic diamond was virtually recreated.
A computer analysis of
the gem, makes it the
absolute masterpiece of
French baroque lapidary
art, thanks to its com-
plex, and great 7-fold
symmetry.
Also, the computer rev e a l s t h a t i t s ce n t r a l
“rose” shines like a blinking sun in a blue sky.
This is likely the symbol
of Louis XIV, the “sun
king of divine rights’.
Then, the Color Emblem of the order of the
Golden Fleece of Louis
XV was also reconstructed (see left) featuring the
“French Blue” diamond
and numerous other
gems.
A reedition of the blue
diamond has been cut
and will be exhibited at
the Muséum in Paris.
Louis XV’s emblem of the Golden Fleece, gouache by Monnier and Horovitz
A SECOND DISCOVERY, CONCERNING ALSO THE “HOPE” DIAMOND
Also, within the archives of our Muséum in Paris,
The discovery of the lead cast of the “French Blue”
the cast donor, Charles Achard, a Parisian jeweller,
confirms the recut of the royal diamond into what will
reports that the diamond was once possessed
be called later the “Hope” diamond (now at the
by his friend, “Mr Hoppe de Londres”. It is
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.,
then possible that the London banker
USA).
Henry Philip Hope was the central
Because of this disastrous recut, the great
person who purchased the stolen “French
“French Blue” diamond has lot ist fabulous
blue”. This again means that he was also
“rose de Paris’ cut and no less than 20 carats.
possibly the central person concerned by
However, together with the lead cast, the
the dramatic recut of the “French Blue”
exact replica of the “French Blue” diamond
diamond. This was the dramatic price
will be displayed in some near future at
to prevent the gem from being legally The « Hope » diamond (image courtesy t h e Mu s é u m n a t i o n a l d ’ H i s t o i r e
recovered
by the French government.
naturelle in Paris. First, preview it here !
#om the Smithsonian Institution)
Farges F., Sucher S., Horovitz H. and Fourcault J-M (2008) Revue de Gemmologie, vol. 165.
MORE INFOS
About the discoverer and the
Muséum :
François Farges ,
46, is professor
of mineralogy at
t h e Mu s é u m
national d’Histoire naturelle in
Paris (France)
and at Stanford
University, within the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences. He is also
member of the Institut Universitaire de France and received 3
major international medals and
honors.
After having studied natural
magmas and the behavior of metals during volcanic events, he is
now specialized in environnmental mineralogy that aim to understand the relations between mineral and their environnement,
particularly, within the biotic and
anthropic spheres but also the
cultural heritage more infos
The MUSÉUM NATIONAL
D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE
is an public administrative institution with scientific, cultural
and professionnal goals that is
relevant to three governing ministeries : teaching and
childhood, environnement and
sustainable development, and
research. Composed by various
open spaces for a large audience
public, it is also an institution
devoted to research and teaching
like an university.
The Muséum national d’Histoire
naturelle (Paris) is officially located at 57, rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris,
France. Its statuts are published
by law #2001-916 dated october
3rd, 2001. it is represented by its
Directeur général, M. BertrandPierre Galey.
Press contacts :
• Estelle Merceron : 01 40 79 54
40 ; [email protected]
• Julia Bigot : 01 40 79 54 44 ;
[email protected]
• www.mnhn.fr/presse
The authors
SCOTT SUCHER
Scott Sucher is the
world specialist of
modern reeditions
of historical
diamonds, who
always considers
accurate documents and high quality
replicas. Visit his great web site :
www.museumdiamonds.com
HERBERT HOROVITZ
Jeweller and
bibliophil in
Geneva
(Switzerland),
Herbert Horovitz
specialized himself,
on anciant jewellery
including the
Golden Fleeces. His web site is :
www.horovitz.com
JEAN-MARC FOURCAULT
Mr Fourcault is the technican in
charge of the mineralogy collections
at the MNHN. That’s him who
always opens the right drawer !
The companies Matrix Diamond
Technology (Antwerp, Belgium)
and Octonus (Tempere, Finland)
are warmly thanks for their help.
He works among the laboratory
of mineralogie and petrology, also Bibliography :
associated to CNRS (UMR 7166) Farges F., Sucher S., Horovitz H. and
more infos
Fourcault J-M (2008) Revue de
Gemmologie, volume 165, pp. 17-24.
At the MNHN, he is also the
curator in charge of the French
national collections nationales of
mineralogy and gemmology.
François Farges is attached to the
department « Histor y of the
Earth » at the MNHN in Paris.
• MULTIMEDIA •
The public can admire some of
these jewels within the “Virtual
Gallery of Mineralogy, launched
in june 2008 with TOTAL :
www.museum-mineral.fr
• section “Bleu de France”
• section “Bleu de Tavernier”
with 3D pictures (Quicktime®
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