Tavernier Blue

The Tavernier Blue was the precursor diamond to the Blue Diamond of the French Crown (aka the French Blue). Subsequently, most scholars and historians believe that it was re-cut and, after a disappearance and reemergence into the public forum, was renamed the Hope Diamond.[1][2] It is believed to have been a Type IIb diamond.[3]

Detailed view of the recreated great Golden Fleece of king Louis XV of France. Below the 107 carats (21.4 g) spinel Côte de Bretagne hangs the French Blue diamond and the fleece itself, set with hundreds of yellow diamond replicas.

Diamond details

Weighing 112 3/16 old French carats,[3][lower-alpha 1] the crudely finished gem was described by the French gem dealer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier as being "violet" in color.[lower-alpha 2] and of perfect clarity. The diamond was certainly Indian in origin and likely sourced by Tavernier in 1666[4] at the Kollur mine in the Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. The stone, only slightly finished at this time, was eventually cut to present a more diamond-like appearance, in 1775.[5]

Background and history
Tavernier's original sketch

Tavernier was a French traveler and trader who returned to France from India with many of the largest gems of the era. He primarily sold merchandise to French royalty and the aristocracy. Tavernier sold the Tavernier Blue to Louis XIV of France for cash. He also received a Patent of Nobility as part of the sales price.[lower-alpha 3][5]

The original stone was set into a cravat-pin in 1674, and became a central element in the elaborate Order of the Golden Fleece pendant in 1715.[1][2] It and the fleece were placed into the French Crown Jewels in 1749. The Tavernier Blue was removed from the fleece and re-cut by court jeweler Jean Pitau into the 68-carat French Blue in 1775,[1][3] on the orders of Louis XV. It was then returned to the Crown Jewels.[5]

The cubic zirconia replica of the Tavernier Blue diamond created by Scott Sucher

The French Blue was stolen from the French Crown Jewels in 1792 during the turbulence of the French Revolution.[3] It is generally believed that after the theft, the stone was cut into the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond and several smaller stones in an attempt to prevent its proper identification.[6] This provenance was accepted by many historians and gemologists for years and was supported by research with 3D imaging and prototyping technology in 2005.[7][6]

Possible remnants

Another large blue diamond believed[8] to have been taken from the Tavernier was originally set in a ring for Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Russian Emperor Paul I. It was given to the State Diamond Fund in 1860 by her daughter-in-law, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Later, it was mounted into a stick pin.[9] The 7.6-carat[9] stone is preserved in the collection of the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, near St Petersburg. The Russian stone's provenance as part of the Tavernier Blue is disputed.[7]

See also

Notes
  1. 112 3/16 carats are equal to 115.16 modern metric carats. The Blue has been erroneously reported through the years by many as 110+/- carats
  2. Violet in those days was a considered a shade of blue
  3. The Patent of Nobility is considered worth 450,000 French livres in currency of that time.

References
  1. T. Edgar Willson (February 7, 1911). "Editor Jewelers' Circular Writes of the Stories of Misfortunes". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2011. ..as far as he can learn, the authentic history of this gem goes back only to 1830...
  2. Agence France-Presse (November 18, 2008). "U.S. has Sun King's stolen gem, say French experts". Canada.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2011. ...new evidence unearthed in France's National Museum of Natural History shows beyond reasonable doubt that the Hope Diamond is the same steely-blue stone once sported by the Sun King...
  3. "The Hope Diamond". Encyclopedia Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution. January 2003. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  4. Wise, Richard W. (2010). "Historical Time Line, The French Blue / Part III". The French Blue. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  5. "Hope Diamond: Timeline". Treasures of the World. Corporation for Public Broadcasting (PBS). 1999. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  6. Wise, Richard W. (2009), "From the Sun King to the Smithsonian: The Epic Journey of the Hope Diamond", The French Blue, retrieved February 24, 2017
  7. "Tracing the Hope Diamond's Lineage". Spotlight on Science. Vol. 3, no. 2. Smithsonian Institution. February 25, 2005. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005.
  8. "Jewels of the Romanovs Treasures - Diamond Stickpin". www.alexanderpalace.org. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  9. "Stickpin: Russia, circa I800". Jewels of the Romanovs – Treasures of the Imperial Court. Alexander Palace. Retrieved February 24, 2017.

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