Golconda Diamonds: Le Bijou du Roi 'Hope Diamond'
Famous Hope Diamond Le Bijou du Roi - 'King's Jewel' or Le bleu de France - 'France's Blue', 'French Blue', or popularly known as 'Cursed Hope Diamond ', and the Tavernier Blue, is a large, 45.52-carat (9.104 g), deep-blue diamond, the blue tavernier diamond is believed to have come from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India. At present the blue diamond is housed in the National Gem and Mineral collection at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Tavernier Blue known o rigin of the Hope Diamond It is blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure, and exhibits red phosphorescence after exposure to ultraviolet light. It is classified as a Type IIb diamond, and is notorious for supposedly being cursed. It has a long recorded history, with few gaps, in which it changed hands numerous times on its way from India to France to Britain and eventually to the United States, where it ...