The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1910-12-28
HOPE DIAMOND
GEM OF MYSTERY
Is Back in This Country
Again.
HAS A REMARKABLE HISTORY
Worn by Lords and POtentateS
Its ViciSSitudeS Have
Been Many.
Sa5O,OOO WAS OFFERED FOR IT

That marvellous bit of carbon, best
known as the hope diamond-so
beautifully blue that it might have
been compounded from anItalian sky
which was dug out of the earth in
India centuries ago, is now in New
York intact, contrary to reports
printed recently that it had been
cut up abroad, and that the customs
authorities in Boston, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and elsewhere were on the
watch for parts of it which, 1t was
declared, were about to be brought
into this country. Yesterday after
noon it was brought from a safe de-
post vault in the rooms of Cartier,
the Fifth avenue jeweler, and laid
on its bed of white silk, surrounded
by many small white diamonds cut
pear shape or square, which seemed
like satellites to the cleaning gem
which has adorned the persons Of
kings and potentates and many of
the worlds greatest beauties.
How the famous gem got into this
country without even a line of pub
licity, the jeweler who has it did not
explain, but II is considered proba-
BILE it was brought in quietly, so that
thieves might not be tempted by 1t,
for it has been stolen several times
while in transit. Once 1t was re-
ported as being at the bottom of the
China Sea with the body of Persian
who had been sent to Paris to buy
it for an Indian potentate, and was
supposed to have been lost in the
wreck of the vessel on which he was
journing homeward. Some time la
ter the Persian again appeared in
Paris with the great stone, which af-
ter several cuttings still weighed
44h carats, and again 1t changed
hands.
Since the diamond came into pos
session of the Fifth-avenue jeweler,
about three months ago, it has been
placed in a new setting, to be worn
as the pendant of a necklace. The
latter, like the setting of the Hope
stone, is formed of diamonds set in
platinum, and the entire ornament
is most dazzling.
When the diamond was last Of
fered for sale publicly 1t was dis
played for a few days in the window
of a Paris shop, the headquarters of
the Fifth-avenue concern which now
holds It. Arrangements for its pur-
chase we're made very quietly by the
American house, and it was brought
In under the duty imposed by the
new tariff law, which is 10 per cent.
of its valuation. What 1t had been
appraised at could not be learned
yesterday from the customs author
tiles OF. from its present owner.
According to the jeweler, several
offers have been made for the stone
since It arrived here, the highest be-
ing $25O,000 from a Western capt.
talist, who wished to present it to
his wife. But this offer was declin-
ed. The jeweler expressed some,
hesitation about setting a price on
the gem, declaring its intrinsic value
is enhanced greatly by its centuries.
OF association.
In the United States and England
the stone is best known as the Hope
diamond, because of it's more recent
ownership by the Hope family OF
England, although it has been
known in years past by various other
names. 1t was inherited from his
father by Lord Francis Hope, who
married May Yohe. once prominent
on the American stage, and gave her
the diamond in trust. Lady Hope
and her titled husband parted COM
pany, but she brought the gem to
this country and wore it several
times while appearing on the stage.
The stone finally was returned to
Lord Hope, who sold It to a dealer,
and afterward it fell into the hands
of an American syndicate, which
held 1t for speculative purposes. For
some time it reposed in the vault of
a Maiden Lane firm. When the f.
nancial crisis came in 1907 the syn
dictate found it expedient to convert
the gem into cash, and once more it
went to France, being purchased by
a syndicate in Paris. 1t has changed
hands twice since then.-[New York
Herald.
MIR. AND MRS. BRIDEGROOM