McLean's entire jewelry collection, including the Hope Diamond, from her estate in 1949. McLean's flamboyant ownership of the stone lasted until her death in 1947. Sometime later it became the pendant on a diamond necklace as we know it today. The sale was made in 1911 with the diamond mounted as a headpiece on a three-tiered circlet of large white diamonds. Cartier had the diamond reset and took it to the U.S. Evalyn Walsh McLean, of Washington D.C., at Cartier's in Paris, but she did not like the setting. In 1910 the Hope Diamond was shown to Mrs. Rosenau and then resold to Pierre Cartier that same year. It did not sell at the auction but was sold soon after to C.H.
The diamond was next sold to Selim Habib who put it up for auction in Paris in 1909. 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. In 1901 Lord Francis Hope obtained permission from the Court of Chancery and his sisters to sell the stone to help pay off his debts. Unfortunately, the catalog does not reveal where or from whom Hope acquired the diamond or how much he paid for it.įollowing the death of Henry Philip Hope in 1839, and after much litigation, the diamond passed to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and ultimately to the nephew's grandson Lord Francis Hope. The first reference to the diamond's next owner is found in the 1839 entry of the gem collection catalog of the well-known Henry Philip Hope, the man from whom the diamond takes its name. At his death, in 1830, the king's debts were so enormous that the blue diamond was likely sold through private channels. Several references suggest that it was acquired by King George IV of the United Kingdom. Strong evidence indicates that the stone was the recut French Blue and the same stone known today as the Hope Diamond. In 1812, a deep blue diamond described by John Francillion as weighing 177 grains (4 grains = 1 carat) was documented as being in the possession of London diamond merchant, Daniel Eliason. During a week-long looting of the crown jewels in September of 1792, the French Blue diamond was stolen. 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. 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 the royal inventories, its color was described as an intense steely-blue and the stone became known as the "Blue Diamond of the Crown," or the "French Blue." It was set in gold and suspended on a neck ribbon which the king wore on ceremonial occasions. In 1673, the stone was recut by Sieur Pitau, the court jeweler, resulting in a 67 1/8-carat stone. Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668 with 14 other large diamonds and several smaller ones. Its color was described by Tavernier as a "beautiful violet."
This diamond, which was most likely from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India, was somewhat triangular in shape and crudely cut. The history of the stone which was eventually named the Hope Diamond began when the French merchant traveler, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, purchased a 112 3/16-carat diamond.
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