Saw the Hope Diamond on Friday and it was...

[BigDiamonds]

DIRTY!!!

I think...

It had some minor surface imperfections that looked like water spots or something. Is that possible??? They were irregularly shaped and whiteish, visible on a couple of the top-facing facets.

Is it some feature of the diamond that I don''t know about, or do we need to send those nice people at the Smithsonian to PS for some cleaning advice?

Or is it possible that the heat and humidity caused me to hallucinate

(seriously, I don''t know how people do it...SO uncomfortable.)

 

[door knob solitaire]

Cool.

DKS

 

[Kaleigh]

Gosh, that''s a shame if they don''t keep it clean. I bet it collects dust and what not being encased. I haven''t seen it recently. Only a PS''er would take note of it.

 

[Stone Hunter]

I saw it last October. I got great photos of it and I don''t remember seeing any dirt. But maybe it hasn''t been cleaned since.

 

[BigDiamonds]

I couldn''t believe it when I saw it. I figured it must be some natural feature of the diamond, but I don''t think it was.

How does one of the most famous diamonds in the world, in one of the best museums in the world, end up dirty???

And Kaleigh, you are totally right. No one else seemed to think anything was wrong with it. They haven''t seen the PS light yet.

 

[monarch64]

Glad you got to see it, BD! I still haven't made the trip to the Smithsonian yet but would love to. Didn't Alexis have a thread based on her visit there this spring...I think she posted a ton of pics, including a few of the Hope Diamond? I remember she couldn't get close enough to get a really great pic. Shame on whoever's taking care of those jewels if the HD is dirty!

HOPE DIAMOND DATA ETA: Hope Diamond stats as graded by GIA from Encyclopedia Smithsonian:
WEIGHT: 45.52 carats
DIMENSIONS: Length 25.60 mm
Width 21.78 mm
Depth 12.00 mm
CUT: Cushion antique brilliant with a faceted girdle and extra facets on the pavilion.
CLARITY: VS1. Whitish graining is present.
COLOR: Fancy dark grayish-blue

Maybe the whitish graining present is what was visible to you, BD?

 

[musey]

Date: 8/14/2007 11:44:39 PM
Author: door knob solitaire
Cool.


DKS

LOL dks... (literally

)

 

[BigDiamonds]

Maybe the whitish graining present is what was visible to you, BD?

Maybe...it seemed more irregularly shaped than the normal graining I''ve seen, but it''s definitely possible.

I can definitely see how Alexis had trouble getting pix. There were a ton of people there!!! I wasn''t planning to be there, so I didn''t even have my camera

(long story involving a work trip and a connecting flight in DC that never connected.)

 

[Lynn B]

I''ve seen it, too, years ago... don''t remember anything more than "WOW!

"... but I wasn''t a PS''er yet, so I could have easily missed something!!!

Man, wouldn''t that look GREAT on my size 4.75 finger, in a simple, killer Leon setting???!!

 

[CaityJ]

They probably have an irregular schedule for cleaning for security reasons. Just assume that you saw it the day just before it was due for a touch-up...

How about that Hall of Minerals, though? And the Inquisition Emerald Necklace...

So jealous.

 

[BigDiamonds]

It was pretty amazing...I wanted to push everyone aside and say, "You don''t go to PS! You don''t appreciate this like I do!!" But then I decided not to be a crazy woman.

I was really wowed by the yellow Tiffany diamond, although I''m not too sure about the bird on top. There was also a diamond necklace with a huge cognac diamond on it that was pretty awesome.