When we think of the "heart shape" we more often than not think of romance and love. It has managed to work its way into our treasured holidays such as St. Valentine's Day, into our greeting cards and gifts, and into our designs of jewelry as well. This jewelry is often made out of precious metals (such as gold and silver) and gems (such as diamonds and rubies), and when we incorporate the "heart shape" we are creating an object that portrays the eternal ideas of not only romance and love, but caring and belonging as well. We will now explore the origins of the "heart shape symbol", heart jewelry, and learn about the world's most famous heart-shaped diamond.
The "heart symbol" has been around for years, used to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and intellectual core of humans. It's often depicted as "red" as this symbolizes blood (as it is the heart that pumps blood through the body) and strong emotions...and what emotion can possibly be stronger than that of true love?
Finding a true heart-shaped diamond is a rare event, but they do exist. For example, the most rare and famous of these is the "Blue Heart" (also called the Eugenie Blue) diamond. Many people consider it to be the best example of a blue diamond that the world has ever seen. The only diamond that can rival its fame is perhaps the Hope Diamond, but with the unique heart shape of the "Blue Heart", it really stands out in the crowd. From the standpoint of pure elegance and simplicity, there are few diamonds that can hold a candle to the "Blue Heart".
The "Blue Heart" is a 30.82 metric carat diamond. It is thought to be of either African or Indian origin. The original rough diamond was cut by Antanik Ekyanan of Neuilly, Paris in either 1909 or 1910. It's current dimensions are: 20mm x 19mm x 12mm.
The diamond wound up in the possession of an Argentinian woman named Mrs. Unzue, who had it set into a corsage. It was sold to Cartier in 1910. When it was sold to Van Cleef and Arpels in 1953 it was still in the corsage setting.
Next stop...an European family. They then sold this heart jewelry gem to a gentleman named Harry Winston in 1959. He put the diamond into a ring, and then sold it to Marjorie Merriweather Post, who eventually donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. This wonderful example of heart jewelry is currently on display at this institution today. Want a bit of trivia? At one point the "Blue Heart" Diamond, the Hope Diamond, and the Heart of Eternity were all on display at the Smithsonian.
Betsy Johnson has some great deals for you at: open heart jewelry and heart jewelry. Check them out!
categories: heart jewelry,jewelry,diamonds,gifts,presents,for her,holidays