What is the Hope Diamond?
By Jared James · Last updated 21 May 2026
Definition
The Hope Diamond is a 45.52-carat deep blue diamond, one of the most famous gemstones in the world and now on permanent display at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. Its intense blue colour comes from traces of boron in the crystal, and under ultraviolet light it glows an eerie red-orange. It has a long and well-documented history stretching back to 17th-century India, and it is one of the largest deep-blue diamonds known to exist.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is the Hope Diamond blue?
- The blue colour comes from traces of the element boron trapped within the diamond's crystal structure during its formation. Boron absorbs red and yellow light and allows blue light to pass through, producing that distinctive deep blue. The same process creates all natural blue diamonds.
- Is the Hope Diamond really cursed?
- The curse story is largely a 20th-century invention, helped along by journalists and the diamond's colourful ownership history. Several owners did experience misfortune, but so did many other wealthy people of the era. Most historians treat the curse as entertaining folklore rather than fact.
- Who owned the Hope Diamond?
- It passed through many hands, including French King Louis XIV, who acquired it in the 1660s, before being stolen during the French Revolution. It later came to England, passed to a prominent London banking family, and was eventually bought by American socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean. Harry Winston donated it to the Smithsonian in 1958.
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