The famous Hope Diamond has been removed from its setting and is on display at the National Museum of Natural History, as the Smithsonian Institute celebrates the fiftieth year the diamond has been housed at the museum.
The 45.52-carat gem was donated by the firm of Harry Winston to the Smithsonian on Nov. 10, 1958. This famous gem is one of the many highlights at the National Museum of Natural History which receives 5 million visitors annually.
Additionally the Smithsonian Channel is producing a documentary about the Hope Diamond entitled: “Mystery of the Hope Diamond” that will air in Spring 2010. The diamond’s history is intriguing in that it spans across so many centuries. The mined to be a part of the crowned jewels, the diamond was sold to King Louis XIV of France in 1668 and finally made its way across the Atlantic when in 1911 Evalyn Walsh McLean purchased the diamond. Winston bought the gem back in 1949 after Evalyn Walsh McLean’s death. Some legends say that the diamond is cursed.The diamond, sans its setting, will be on display until April 2010.
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