There’s something so exciting about these incredible diamond stones. Sometimes they have well-documented histories and we know where they came from and who owned them and when. But others have a past that’s not as well-known, and that only adds to the romance and mystique surrounding them.

The French Blue Heart Diamond is a spectacular diamond. It has also been called the “Eugenie Blue” Diamond, although it’s uncertain that the Empress Eugenie ever owned this particular stone. It was cut in Paris between 1909 and 1910, but the stone’s origin is unclear. It is believed to have it origin in Africa or India. Some reports refer that a French cutting firm Atanik Ekyanan of Neuilly in Paris cut this blue heart diamond, sometime between 1909 and 1910. The enormous heart-shaped, blue diamond weighs about 30.82 metric carats and is of a rare deep blue color. In 1910, a jeweler Cartier purchased the diamond and sold it to an Argentinian woman named Mrs. Unzue.

Then it changed hands among famous jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels in 1953. They set it in a pendant of a necklace valued at $300,000 and sold it to a European titled family. In 1959 Harry Winston bought the gem and mounted it in his ring. Five years later, he sold the precious blue heart diamond ring to Marjorie Merriweather Post. Finally Mrs. Post donated the blue heart diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. where it remains there with other famous blue diamonds, such as the Hope Diamond and the Heart of Eternity Diamond.

The current setting of this Eugenie Blue Diamond placed among other diamonds in the Smithsonian’s collection, is in a platinum ring, surrounded by white diamonds. The Blue Heart Diamond has not yet been classified, but some experts categorize it as either Fancy Vivid Blue or Fancy Deep Blue.

However, a French link does exist because the cutting firm of Atanik Ekyanan of Neuilly, Paris cut this heart shape. Since there are reports clearly describing that the blue heart diamond was cut in Paris, it is clear that the Blue Heart Diamond Ring was originally part of the French Crown Jewels. Before the medieval era, diamonds were worn rough, or cut and polished only on their upper surfaces. It was in this form that diamonds were used in ornaments, temples, goblets, reliquaries, and crowns.

This great blue heart diamond is perhaps the most notorious gem in French Crown Jewels, and has left behind a trail of many unlucky owners as seen above. The different French Blue diamonds were stolen together with all of the French crown jewels. Some of the gems taken in this robbery were recovered, but not the Blue Diamond of the Crown. It is expected that the Blue Heart Diamond is a part of the crown. There are reports that the stolen diamond was re-cut to its present size. The diamond was originally not only a part of the French Crown jewels but may have also included in necklace, comb, belt buckle, and earrings, all made of emeralds and diamonds set in silver and gold.

The books ‘The National Gem Collection’ by Jeffrey E. Post, ‘Famous Diamonds’ by Ian Balfour and ‘Diamonds - Famous, Notable and Unique’ by GIA, and some other related web sites also give other evidences that the French blue heart diamond was originally part of the French crown jewels.

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