The Hope Diamond and other Famous Gems in Washington DC

You’ve probably heard of the iconic Hope Diamond.

But do you know the incredible history behind it? And are you aware that the diamond is on public display in Washington DC?

One might not think of the US capital as the place to view famous gems, but it very much is.

The National Gem and Minerals Collection housed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC is the largest one of its kind in the world. It has over 350,000 mineral specimen and over 10,000 gems.

The National Gem and Minerals Collection boasts a long list of incredible treasures, the most famous of them being the iconic Hope Diamond. The gems range from half a carat to almost 23,000 carats. Some other renowned items on display include the Berns quartz, exquisite jewels gifted by Emperor Napoleon to Empress Marie-Louise, diamond earrings which once belonged to the French Queen Marie-Antoinette, the radiant yellow Oppenheimer diamond, the gorgeous red Whitney Flame Topaz, the Lion of Merelani (the world’s largest square-cushion cut tsavorite gem), and many, many others.

Check out the stories behind some of these famous items and get ready to go to DC!

The Hope Diamond

What makes this diamond so famous?

One of the treasures which you will have a chance to see during your visit to the National Gem Collection is the world famous blue Hope Diamond.

This is the most valuable diamond in the world. Its exact worth is unknown and Smithsonian considers it priceless, although some sources estimate it at $350 million.

Besides its high value, there are several other reasons why this gem is so famous. One of the reasons is its incredible history, which you can read below. Another – the connection with the movie Titanic. You’ve probably seen the movie and admired the Heart of the Ocean, the beautiful blue diamond which Rose received from her fiancé and later dumped in the ocean.

Well, guess what – it was actually the Hope Diamond which inspired the Heart of the Ocean. This diamond was never really present on the Titanic and never drowned in the ocean. This part of the story was pure fiction. The diamond is still around – and you can see it in Washington DC.

The real story of the Hope Diamond goes as follows.

The Hope Diamond’s history

This gem was originally purchased by King Louis XIV from Jean Baptiste Tavernier, an explorer who just returned from a trip to India. The jewel was passed on to Louis XV and later – to King Louis XVI and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette.

As you probably know, both King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were executed during the French Revolution, back in 1793.

When the Revolution just began, the royal family decided to flee Paris and travel to Montmedy where royalist forces were waiting for them. This would put them in safety.

But getting out of Paris was a very difficult affair which needed a lot of careful planning. The main architect of this escape was the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen, a long-time favorite of Marie-Antoinette. During the night of June 20-21, 1791, the royal family left Paris, taking all their jewelry with them, including the incredible Hope Diamond.

As you can guess, the escape did not go as planned. Some people recognized the King and Queen as they traveled. They made it only as far as a small town called Varennes.

There were a lot of issues with the escape. Most importantly, the King chose to travel in a very large, heavy and conspicuous coach, together with his wife, children, and his sister. Instead, they should have split up and traveled in a couple of smaller and lighter carriages. Interestingly, the King’s brother took a different route and never got captured. Eventually, he’d be back to France as King Louis XVIII.

All in all, the royal family was captured and the Hope Diamond was confiscated from them together with other royal jewels.

In 1792, the diamond was stolen by the group of thieves. It eventually turned up in London and later made it to NYC. Harry Winston purchased it in 1949. He eventually donated it to the National Gem Collection.

Napoleon’s Gifts to Marie-Louise

I’m a big fan of French history and everything connected with emperor Napoleon. So, I find it incredibly cool that one can view two of Napoleon’s gifts to empress Marie-Louise here in DC without the need of going to France.

The wedding bliss

Empress Marie-Louise was Napoleon’s second wife. When they got married, Napoleon was 41 years old, and Marie Louise- only 19.

Unlike Napoleon’s first wife (Josephine de Beauharnais), Marie-Louise was part of the Austrian royal family. It was a huge deal for Napoleon, who did not have royal blood in him, to finally wed a lady who was royal from head to toe.

For a while, he was hoping to marry a Russian princess (one of the sisters of Alexander I of Russia). This was his top choice, as his strategy was to build close relations with Russia. But Tsar Alexander had different plans in relation to France and therefore kept delaying his response. Eventually, he declined Napoleon’s proposal.

Luckily, Napoleon quickly found another option. An Austrian princess was available, and Napoleon decided this was also a good match for him.

After wedding Marie-Louise, he was finally an equal to other European monarchs, not some imposter! That meant a lot. Nobody could look down at him now that he married into the renowned Habsburg dynasty.

In addition, Marie-Louise was very young and capable to bear him a child, something Napoleon had been dreaming for a long time. By the time Napoleon met Josephine, she was already a widow with children, and her age prevented her from having another child. These days, IVF is common, but obviously not in the Napoleon’s times.

On top of that, there was always some issues of infidelity with Josephine, while with Marie Louise there was “never a lie, never a debt”, as Napoleon used to say. Not surprising, he went out of the way to please his new wife, including with exquisite jewelry.

At the National Gem Collection, you will see two jewelry pieces which Napoleon presented to Marie-Louise.

The first one is the diadem, which was his wedding present to her in 1810.

The second one is the necklace which he gave her a year later to celebrate the birth of their one and only son who received the title of the King of Rome at birth.

The end of Napoleon’s reign

Sadly for Marie-Louise and Napoleon, their reign did not last much past the birth of their son. You probably know about Napoleon’s disastrous Russian campaign, subsequent abdication and final exile. If you want to know more, check out my blog post about Chateau de Fontainebleau and some history of Napoleon’s reign. At Fontainebleau, you can see the room where Napoleon abdicated, his son’s room, Napoleon’s famous uniform and many items which belonged to him and Marie-Louise.

All in all, Marie Louise had to pack all her nice jewelry and other stuff up and leave France. She was upset for some time, and even wanted to see her husband in his exile in Elba. Napoleon wrote letters to her, hoping they would meet soon and he would be able to hug his wife and son. But this did not happen. Sadly, the pair never saw each other since January 24, 1814 when the young boy was only 4 years old. As Marie-Louise put it, she was no longer free and could not see Napoleon.

What happened? Well, Marie Louise’s well meaning father, the emperor of Austria, quickly put a new man in her entourage as a cavalier-in-waiting. This was a well-known ladies man, Count Adam von Neipperg. Soon enough, Marie-Louise was distracted by the new admirer and no longer looked to reconnect with her husband. After Napoleon’s death, she married Count Neipperg and after he passed away, she got married again, this time to Charles-René de Bombelles.

The son of Napoleon and Marie-Louise, grew up to be a handsome young man, but his life was short. He died from tuberculosis at the age of 21.

Napoleon II (or, as he was called in Austria, Franz, Duke of Reichstadt) lived his whole life in Vienna. He briefly held the title of emperor after his father’s second fall. It was actually his cousin, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, who founded the second French Empire and became Emperor Napoleon III.

In contrast, Franz did not have many achievements, partly because of his weak health, partly because his family held him back to avoid political controversy. From the young age, he was interested in the military, just like his father. He became a cadet in the Austrian army but he was not allowed to play any political role (European leaders feared he might try to return to throne).

When he became older, Franz grew distant from his mother. He did not approve of the way she treated his father. Franz believed that Napoleon deserved a better wife and things would have been different if Josephine were his mother.

I tend to think so too. Marriage to Marie-Louise ended in a disaster. Was it the right decision to divorce Josephine? Probably not. But we’ll never know for sure.

What happened Napoleon’s gifts later?

Well, Marie Louise passed on her jewels to other family members after her death. Eventually, the tiara and the necklace appeared at an auction. Marjorie Merriweather Post, a famous collector, purchased them and donated to the Smithsonian in 1971. Thanks to this extraordinary donation, we are all able to admire these gifts of love. And remember the sad story behind them.

A few important points about the jewels. The diadem contains over 1,000 diamonds with Persian turquoise around them. But the turquoise was not in the diadem originally. Instead, it included emeralds. The jewelers took them out and started selling them separately. From time to time, some of these gems still circulate and appear at auctions. So, if you’d like to get one, be on a lookout!

Marie-Antoinette’s Diamond Earrings

The collection also includes diamond earrings which once belonged to Marie-Antoinette.

The earrings are also a gift to the museum, this time from Eleanor Close Barzin (the daughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post), back in 1964.

The history behind these earrings is blurry, but here’s what we know. These were a gift to Marie-Antoinette from her husband, King Louis XVI. During the royals’ flight to Varennes, the revolutionaries confiscated the jewels which Marie-Antoinette had with her, including these very earrings.

At some point, Grand Duchess Tatiana Yousupoff of Russian acquired these masterpieces. Eventually, they found their way to the auction and ended up at the museum where everyone can admire them. You don’t need to be a queen, a duchess or even a heiress.

The Berns Natural Quartz

The Berns natural quartz specimen on display at the museum weighs a whopping 8,000 pounds. It’s a relatively new display which appeared at the museum back in 2021.

This quartz came from the Coleman mine in the Quachita mountains in Arkansas. As it turns out, Quachita mountains contain a lot of quartz deposits. This is one of the few places in the world where such a clear and large piece of quartz could come from.

Generally speaking, quartz is the second most common mineral in the world and one of the building blocks of the Earth. It has lots of varieties, some of which include amethyst and citrine gemstones. While overall this mineral is common, such large pieces of quartz are very rare. So, Smithsonian scientists thought it was a good idea to get it for the display at the museum.

In order to acquire such a large piece of quartz, Smithsonian required the help of donors. Support came from Michael and Tricia Berns, hence the name- the Berns quartz.

The Final Word

I don’t know what’s more incredible: the beauty of jewels or the stories behind them. I guess they go hand in hand with one another. The more astonishing the gem is, the more interesting is its story.

I hope you’ll have a chance to visit the National Gem and Minerals Collection at the National Museum of Natural History in DC and see up close the gorgeous gems and minerals which they have on display.

The National Museum of Natural History has a lot of other interesting exhibits, so make sure to check them out as well. See my blog post about this museum: Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and its Treasures so that you get an idea what are the most interesting things to see there.