Who among us does not remember a diamond in the form of a heart - a witness to the short but bright love of the heroes of the movie "Titanic." At the end of her long life, the aged Rose, smiling, throws a necklace with a dark blue diamond into the ocean, in memory of the heart, which was only beating for her ... Perhaps you will be surprised, but the diamond "The Heart of the Ocean" is not the product of the director's imagination.
Choosing a prototype stone
James Cameron - the director of an extraordinary creative "drive" and, at the same time, excellent scrupulousness in detail. While filming a documentary history, he was striving for maximum reliability. He repeatedly plunged to the bottom of the Atlantic to personally see the remains of the deceased "Titanic".
When working on the film, James Cameron was full of the desire to completely recreate the entire atmosphere of the dead liner, so that the viewer could feel his atmosphere. Even the performers of roles, he selected, seeking similarity with real passengers and members of the ship's crew.
At the insistence of Cameron, the actors passed a course of learning good manners to move and talk as they did in the early 20th century. The interior of the vessel was recreated with the utmost precision.
It is no accident in the script of the film was a precious stone in the color of the sea depths. The diamond "The Heart of the Ocean" (Le Coeur de la Mer) - the main value of the necklace, presented to Rose by her wealthy suitor, is covered with a legend of a mystical diamond, the history of which Cameron studied for a long time. The existence of such a real prototype gives the story of the film even greater certainty.
In the footsteps of a real diamond
The fate of outstanding diamonds is not inconspicuous. Especially, if we are talking about a fantasy color stone weighing 13.75 carats, sold in 1995 at Christie's auction for 7.791.000 dollars.
Diamonds of fantasy flowers are rare and highly valued. Especially when it comes to a large stone of a deep blue color with high transparency.
Similar diamonds are mined only in India and South Africa (the Cullinan mine). In a modern laboratory, it is possible to impart a blue color to an ordinary diamond, influencing it with high pressure, temperature, radiation, but a refined stone does not match the natural.
Diamond, sold in London to an unknown collector, stood out not only for its unconventional coloring. While most diamonds have a round cut, this was cut in the most rare and expensive way - in the form of a heart.
Experts agree that this is a diamond Hope, bearing the name of its former owner - the English banker Henry Hope, who bought a brilliant unique blue color weighing 45.52 carats in 1839.
It is believed that before this stone was known as the "Blue Frenchman", the legendary diamond of French kings. According to legend, he got to France from India, being stolen from the orbit of the statue of the Hindu goddess Sita. "Blue Frenchman" weighed 69 carats. Stolen during the French Revolution of 1792, he was re-cut and significantly reduced in size.
The stone belonged to the Hope until 1908, then became the property of the Turkish sultan. In 1910, the diamond again changed its owner. At this time he became a jeweler Pierre Cartier, the founder of the Cartier brand. He paid for the blue crystal fabulously high price - 550 000 francs. Restricting the stone in the style of "kushon", he inserted it in the form of a pendant in a necklace, shading his blue with white diamonds.
The owner of millions, American Evelyn Macklin was delighted with the necklace with a magnificent pendant and bought it. Grandchildren Evelyn after her death gave the necklace for debts to the jeweler Harry Winston. He exhibited it at diamond exhibitions, giving the proceeds to charity. Currently, the diamond is located in the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, to which the jeweler donated the jewel as a gift.
Fatal diamond
Diamond Hope is notorious. His numerous owners were aristocrats and bankers. By a strange coincidence, they died, went bankrupt or went insane. But the "curse of the stone" did not stop from the desire to take possession of it. Unable to resist the magnetism of the blue crystal, people stole or bought it.
The path of the mysterious diamond is marked by a disastrous red thread. See for yourself:
- eweler Tavernier, who sold the stone to Louis XIV, was torn to pieces by dogs.
- The Sun King unexpectedly died of blood poisoning, wounded by a rusty nail during the dance.
- Queen Marie Antoinette, the next owner of the diamond, is executed on the guillotine.
- Henry Hope died of a strange illness, his son was poisoned, and his grandson lost his fortune.
- Sultan Abdul Hamid II was deposed and imprisoned for the rest of his days.
- The husband of Evelyn Macklin has gone crazy, her son was shot down to death by a car, and her daughter committed suicide.
There is a version that the couple, in whose ownership was the sinister diamond, went on the Titanic on his last journey, dying at his wreck.
The tragic fate of the Titanic and the fatal diamond merged in the history of James Cameron. Even the cut of a diamond in the form of a heart is symbolically weaved into the canvas of the film. According to the director himself, he created a love story of Rose and Jack against the backdrop of the death of a huge liner so that through their emotions the viewer opened his heart to all the acuteness of this deeply sad tragic event.
And one more interesting detail: the blue color of diamonds is attached to the presence of boron, which is in the salt water of the seas. In place of the former seas, they are often found. In the finale of the movie "The Heart of the Ocean" returns home ...
Stone actor "The Heart of the Ocean"
It's easy to see that even for a diamond of outstanding size, the crystal in the heroine's pendant is too large. Judging by his appearance, he weighs at least 350 carats. So it was conceived by the director to draw attention to the stone.
Next to the "Heart of the Ocean", Hope's diamond would look very miniature with a weight of 13.75 carats. In addition, his edging was somewhat different. Who performed the role of "Heart of the Ocean"?
In search of a suitable stone, James Cameron rejected a real blue diamond as too dark. The sapphires, in his opinion, were too dim. An unexpected choice was the choice of tanzanite, whose color was exactly what the director had planned: enchantingly blue, attracting its magnetism.
The deposit of tanzanite, discovered in 1966, is located in the Kilimanjaro mountain area in Tanzania. In appearance, the mineral is very similar to sapphire, especially when properly processed. It's no accident that Tiffany, a world-famous company, uses it so often in its products. The deposit of tanzanite is unique in the world, so the cost of the stone is quite high.
After the overwhelming success of the film, thousands of his fans were eager to acquire an exact replica of the necklace from the Titanic, a symbol of bright romantic love. Their desire did not remain unsatisfied. The jewelry industry and jewelry manufacturers offer various options for the execution of jewelry, which today, 20 years after the release of the cult film, remains the leader in sales.
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