The incredible stories behind some of the world's most famous diamonds as 400 replica gems go on display in Yorkshire

Oct 08, 2023

RICHARD BURTON was so determined to buy one particular diamond for Elizabeth Taylor that he ordered his lawyers not to come back to him until they had bought it from Cartier after he lost out to the French design house itself in an auction in 1969.

This is just one of the fascinating stories behind an exhibition of 400 replica diamonds and gems, as well as crowns and tiaras at the W Hamond Whitby Jet Museum to coincide with today's coronation of King Charles III.

"We are incredibly lucky to have this amazing collection in Whitby that was given to us by one gemologist in 2015 who had started his collection in 1968. He was London based and had a lifetime's career in the jewellery and gem industry. He became passionate about collecting replica gemstones and as result the collection is huge. This is the first time it has been on public display in 20 years," says curator Rebecca Tucker.

"We are the museum of Whitby jet and this is very different from any other things we have put on display but we are passionate about all jewellery and gemstones and the King's coronation seemed the perfect time to open it to the public an a temporary exhibition in Whitby."But it isn't just the number of the replica diamonds that are all made out of cubic zirconia which we use mainly for educational purposes, it is the stories behind them.

"One of my favourite stories is the one where Richard Burton would stop at nothing to get this particular diamond for Elizabeth Taylor at auction in 1969 and but when it exceeded his limit of $1m he was outbid by Cartier.

"Apparently he was absolutely livid but he wasn't going to be beaten. He instructed his lawyer to get on the phone to Cartier and buy it. He sat by the telephone until the early hours until they called to say they had managed to purchase it for $1.1m."

At the time of sale, the 69-carat diamond was set in a platinum ring with two smaller diamonds on either side. After its purchase by Burton, Taylor found the diamond too heavy to wear as a ring, and commissioned an $80,000 diamond necklace which included a custom setting for the diamond.

The necklace was designed to fit Taylor's neck, allowing the diamond to cover a tracheotomy scar resulting from a bout of near fatal pneumonia in 1961.

"Another one of the stand-out stories is that of the Hope Diamond," adds Tucker.

"The Hope Diamond isn't just interesting historically but also scientifically. It has a vibrant blue colour which is caused by a trace amount of boron present at its formation about a billion years ago. But it is also believed to be cursed due to tragedies that have befallen the people who have owned it over the centuries."

The Blue Diamond was first discovered in the 17th century in India and owners have included King Louis XIV of France and Marie Antoinette in 1668, who were subsequently beheaded. It was stolen in 1792 and re-cut, with the largest section of the diamond appearing under the Hope name in an 1839 gem catalogue from the Hope banking family.

Upon Henry Hope's untimely death, his family sold it to pay off his gambling debts. Jeweller Wilhelm Fals acquired the natural diamond, and soon after his son killed him, took the stone, and later committed suicide.

That didn't scare off the young heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean who purchased the cursed diamond. But she faced unimaginable loss, including the deaths of her son at the age of nine and daughter at 25. Not to mention that after her husband left her, he went mad and died.

Walsh McLean's heirs sold the stone to Harry Winston, who after touring the infamous diamond around the country made the wise decision to donate it to the Smithsonian Institution. He famously mailed the priceless diamond to the museum via US mail for $2.44 postage, although rumour has it that tragedy beset the postman that delivered it. "There were some concerns that having it in America would curse the entire country," says Tucker.

Among the hundreds of replica diamonds is also the Cullinan 1,the largest diamond in all the Crown Jewels which is set into the royal sceptre. Also known as the Great Star of Africa, it is a pendeloque-cut brilliant weighing 530.2 carats. It is set at the top of the Sovereign's sceptre with cross, which had to be redesigned in 1910 to accommodate it.

"We also have on display some replica tiaras including one designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria," adds Tucker.

"There are also two tiaras which would have been worn by members of the Devonshire family at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. As well as Whitby we have a jewellers in Derby which has led to a close relationship with the Devonshire family and we have been asked to make a few pieces for them over the years, including a replica head dress that was worn by the Duchess to a fancy dress ball to at Chatsworth attended by members of the Royal Family to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

"She went as Queen Zonobia, the family had kept the dress but the headdress had got lost and so they asked us to make one for them for an exhibition which we did and then we were allowed to keep it."

The Times described the headdress at the time as: "a gold crown encrusted with emeralds, diamonds, and rubies, with a diamond drop at each curved end and two upstanding white ostrich feathers in the middle, and round the front festoons of pearls with a large pear-shaped pearl in the centre falling on the forehead".

Although the exhibition is temporary, Tucker hopes that if it proves popular it will go on well beyond today's Coronation.

The Museum of Whitby Jet, Wesley Hall, Church Street, Whitby. www.museumofwhitbyjet.com/

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