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| Source: http://topidolblog.com |
Cast your mind back to the 1990s and one of the most
successful films of all time, Titanic.
This tragic love story featured the characters Jack Dawson, played by
Leonardo DiCaprio and Rose DeWitt Bukater, who as a young woman was played by
Kate Winslet. Gloria Stuart, born on the
4th July 1910, and who lived to be 100 years old, played Rose as an
old lady, recounting the story of her past and her brief encounter with Jack
Dawson.
As we watch the film, Rose is recalling her memories of the
voyage after a drawing is found of her wearing the precious Heart of the Ocean
necklace. The exquisite necklace
consists of a stunning heart shaped blue diamond, which lies within a setting
of smaller diamonds. It is thought by Brock Lovett, (a treasure hunter), that
the necklace still remains in the ships wreckage, and that it may be connected
to Louis XVI. As the story unfolds, we
learn that Roses fiance Caledon Hockley gave her the necklace as a gift. In the final scenes of the movie, after
surviving the ships sinking, Rose is seen discovering the necklace in the
pocket of Cal s
coat which she is wearing, and letting the heart shaped necklace drop into the
ocean.
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| Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RMS_Titanic_4.jpg |
The fictional necklace, the Heart of the Ocean, takes its
origin from two sources of inspiration.
Firstly, it is understood that on the actual Titanic there was a guest
called Kate Florence Phillips travelling with Samuel Morley. While making their
voyage, she received a necklace which featured a blue sapphire from Samuel, as
a gift of his love. Mr Morley was
already married, and it is believed that the pair were setting sail to begin a
new life together, however sadly Mr Morley lost his life as the ship sank. The other source of inspiration is one of the worlds most
famous diamonds, the Hope Diamond. It is
understood that Jean Baptiste Tavernier sold a number of diamonds, including a
112 3/16 carat blue diamond (the Tavernier Blue) to Louis XIV in 1668. Some
years later the Tavernier Blue was cut and from it the smaller 67 1/8 carat
stone then became known as the Blue Diamond of the Crown or the French
Blue. In 1792, during the French
revolution, looting resulted in the crown jewels being stolen and the French
Blue vanished for some time, some believe the French Blue was cut again at this
time.
In 1812, records show Daniel Eliason, a diamond Merchant
based in London
as having a stone which many believe was the French blue. There is further suggestion
that this stone was also included in King George IV’s collection after this
date. In 1839 Henry Philip Hope became
the owner and the stone which was known thereafter as the Hope Diamond. The
stone continued to be bought and sold with owners of this piece also including
Pierre Cartier in 1909. In 1949, Harry
Winston purchased the diamond and later donated it to the Smithsonian
Institution. It remains on display in
the Harry Winston Gallery in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in America .
Asprey and Garrard made the original Heart of the Ocean
necklace which we see in the film. The necklace featured cubic zirconias with a
white gold setting. The London based
Jewellers later produced a Heart of the Ocean necklace, which featured a
171-carat (34g) sapphire shaped into a heart with 103 diamonds completing the
amazing platinum creation. Remarkably,
after being donated, the necklace was auctioned and raised $2.2 million for the
Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and the Aid for AIDS charity. As part of the sale it was arranged that
Celine Dion would be allowed to wear the necklace at the Academy Awards that
year, 1998. Celine Dion sang My Heart
will Go On, the song which accompanied the film Titanic.
Gloria Stuart famously had the honour of wearing Harry
Winstons 20million dollars Heart of the Ocean inspired creation to the Academy Awards
that year, with an incredible 15-carat (3g) blue diamond featuring in this
amazing piece of jewellery design.
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