The World's Most Famous Heart Shaped Diamond: The Blue Heart
A heart shaped diamond itself can be a bit of a rarity, but perhaps the most rare and famous heart shaped diamond of them all is The Blue Heart. This diamond, sometimes referred to as Eugenie Blue, is a 30.82 metric carat diamond in a rare deep blue color. It was cut sometime between 1909 and 1910 by Antanik Ekyanan of Neuilly, Paris and is of either African or Indian origin. The stone measures roughly 20 millimeters wide by 19 millimeters tall and 12 millimeters deep.
History of The Blue Heart Shaped Diamond
The first record of this heart shaped diamond is from 1910 when Cartier purchased the diamond then sold it to an Argentinean woman named Mrs. Unzue. There appears to be no truth to the rumor that the diamond was owned by the empress, but it does appear to be of French origin. Mrs. Unzue had the diamond set into a corsage and it remained that way until Van Cleef and Arpels bought it in 1953.
The exhibited it then sold it to a European family who in turn sold the diamond to Harry Winston in 1959. He mounted the diamond in a ring and sold it Marjorie Merriweather Post who eventually donated the stone to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It remains on display there today. This diamond is considered to be one of the best representations of a blue diamond the world has ever seen.
The only diamond that is its equal is perhaps the hope diamond, although the unique heart shaped diamond cut on The Blue Heart makes it stand out in a crowd. It is similar in appearance to the Heart of Eternity, but has a much more refined look to it. At one point the Hope Diamond, the Heart of Eternity, and the Blue Heart were all on display together at the Smithsonian.
This heart shaped diamond has a fairly uneventful history, but remains today as one of the finer examples of a heart shape cut that you can find. It is completely unique in its size and cut and is immediately recognizable in crowd. Other diamonds may be bigger, or glow fluorescent colors, but from a standpoint of pure simplicity and elegance, very few diamonds in the world are in the class of the Blue Heart. While it is beyond the means of anyone to afford or even acquire this diamond, it is an important piece of history that should be recognized.
