Diamonds are a girls best friend, one of the most famous diamonds in history: The BLUE HOPE 45.52 carats.
More notorious than any other diamond, the Hope was once owned by Louis XIV and was officially designated the ‘blue diamond of the crown.' Stolen during the French Revolution, it turned up in London in 1830 and was bought by Henry Philip Hope after whom it is currently named. At that time it acquired its gruesome reputation for bad luck: all the Hope family died in poverty. A similar misfortune befell a later owner, Edward McLean. You can see the Blue Hope today at the Smithsonian in Washington.
This 45.52-carat dark-blue stone is undoubtedly one of the world's most famous diamonds, with a history heavily veiled by superstition. The legend unfolds in 1642 in Southwest India, where Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a French adventurer and gem merchant was shown a rough blue diamond of 112.50 carats. The stone is supposed to have been "the Eye of Shiva" and to have been stolen. This is the reason for the "bad luck."
Several of its owners died tragically such as:
+ Louis XIV died from smallpox
+ Countess Du Barry was beheaded during the French Revolution
+ Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette were beheaded during the French Revolution
+ Baron Henry Hope and his descendants were beset with tragedy
+ Habib Bey drowned along with his whole family in a steamer collision
+ The last one, Evalyn Walsh McLean bought the diamond in 1910 from Pierre Cartier
+ Despite all the glamour, luxury and power, Mrs. McLean's personal life had many tragic chapters.
+ Her son. Nine years old, was hit and killed by a car. Her husband was implicated in a scandal. They divorced in 1929. Mr. McLean died in an institution in 1946. Mrs. McLean's daughter, age 25, died from an overdose. Mrs. McLean died of pneumonia in 1947.
In 1949, Harry Winston purchased Mrs. McLean's estate of 74 pieces - including the Hope Diamond - for over one million dollars.
This famous diamond was the central attraction in the "Court of Jewels," an exhibition coordinated by Harry Winston, which toured the United States from 1949 to 1953.
In 1958, Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution. The Hope diamond has left the Smithsonian only four times since it was donated. In 1962 it was exhibited for a month at the Louvre in Paris, France, as part of an exhibit entitled Ten Centuries of French Jewelry. In 1965 the Hope diamond traveled to South Africa where it was exhibited at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. In 1984 the diamond was lent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, as part of the firm's 50th anniversary celebration. In 1996 the Hope diamond was again sent to Harry Winston Inc., in New York, this time for cleaning and some minor restoration work.
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Wearing said t-shirt in the comfort of your own home whilst over the BBQ is well and good (well, I wouldn't associate with anyone wearing same). But, having "eat pussy" while in another country! NO! Not acceptable! We were at a family resort, he was with his family. We were disgusted. Where do these people come from? Australia, WE, are being classified as this type of Aussie?
