All That Glitters

THE AGELESS ALLURE OF THE COLORED DIAMOND, REIMAGINED IN SWAROVSKI ZIRCONIA

Endlessly fascinating stories surrounding the world’s most famous colored diamonds are drenched in mystery and folklore. Some are said to bring luck, others, cursed. Diamonds have been symbols of power for rulers and royalty, and they are a favored red carpet choice by today’s celebrities. Our fascination with this simple fragment of carbon, transformed into a gemstone by geological activity, first began in India in the fourth century BC. Market forces and human desire saw diamonds find their way to Europe, some, even into the crowns of the continent’s royalty. The famed Koh-I-Noor once said to have been set in the peacock throne of Shah Jehan, was set into the British Crown Jewels in the reign of Queen Victoria. Large deposits of diamonds were discovered in South Africa in the 1860s and in more recent decades, also in other African countries, and in Australia and Canada. These finds have produced rare, highly praised colored diamonds to add to the mystique of this precious jewel.

The Hope diamond – Fancy Blue Take, for example, the Hope diamond. The stone’s deep sapphire blue resulted from traces of boron mixed with its carbon during the stone’s formation. The Hope is also said to be cursed. Once part of the French Crown Jewels, it was stolen during the French Revolution. It resurfaced in London in 1830 and was acquired by Henry Philip Hope. All his family died in poverty, and the Hope diamond, when a later owner suffered a similar demise, was said to be cursed.