A Diamond appraisal is basically a clinical process that is 75% objective and scientific, and 25% subjective, being based on personal judgment. That is because three of the four criteria used by diamond dealers to evaluate stones prior to purchasing from diamond wholesalers are based on measurements; carat, or mass and weight, color and clarity, whereas the fourth criterion is cut. This is important; certified loose diamonds that are cut properly are worth far more than those that are not.
The Most Famous of Them All
When it comes to mystery and legend, the Hope Diamond tops them all. It is not the largest diamond ever cut, but has had one of the most convoluted and lengthy histories of any diamond in existence.
Like most certified loose diamonds, the Hope Diamond was cut from a larger crystal, which in this case was the Tavenier Blue, a crudely-cut stone that was allegedly mined in the legendary Golconda region of India and stolen from a statue of the Hindu goddess Seeta.
The Tavenier Blue came into possession of a French traveler by the same name in 1660, and eventually became part of the French Crown Jewels. This diamond was stolen during the French Revolution in 1792. The Hope Diamond, which was cut from the Tavenier Blue, surfaced in England in 1812. It eventually wound up in the collection of one Henry Philip Hope in 1824. The diamond came to the U.S. when a Hope descendant, Francis Hope, married an American actress named May Yohe in 1894. It changed hands several times over the next sixty years before New York diamond dealer Henry Winston donated it to the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains on display.