World Famous Heart-Shaped Jewelry

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.

When we think of the spiritual, emotional, moral, and intellectual core of humans, what symbol comes to mind? For most of us it is the “heart shape”. The heart shape is often shown in the color “red” as this depicts both blood (it is the heart that pumps blood through the body) and intense emotion. What emotion can possibly be stronger than that of true love?

Heart-shaped diamonds are very rare in nature, but they do exist. The “Blue Heart” (also called the “Eugenie Blue”) diamond is perhaps the most famous of these. In fact, many people consider it to be the best example of a blue diamond that has ever existed. Rivaled in fame by only perhaps the Hope Diamond, it is the unique heart shape that makes the “Blue Heart” really stand out from the crowd. From the standpoint of simplicity and pure elegance, it’s hard for any gem to compare with the “Blue Heart”.

Weighing in at 30.82 metric carats, it’s debatable whether the “Blue Heart” diamond is of African or Indian origin. Antanik Ekyanan cut the rough diamond in Neuilly, Paris in either 1909 or 1910. The dimensions of this beautiful gem are: 20mm x 19mm x 12mm.

In 1910 Cartier purchased this diamond from an Argentinean woman named Mrs. Unzue. Mrs. Unzue had the diamond set into a corsage. It was in this corsage when the diamond was purchased by Van Cleef and Arpels in 1953.

The next stop of this precious heart jewelry gem was an European family, who then sold it to a gentleman named Harry Winston. The year was 1959, and he placed this diamond into a ring, and subsequently sold it to Marjorie Merriweather Post. Marjorie Merriweather Post eventually donated it to the Smithsonian Institution located in Washington, D.C. It is here at the Smithsonian that this wonderful example of heart jewelry is currently on display. As a bit of nostalgic history and trivia, it’s interesting to note that at one point the Blue Heart Diamond, the Hope Diamond, and the Heart of Eternity were all on display at the Smithsonian Institution.

If you want to find out more about heart jewelry or open heart jewelry, then visit Betsy Johnson’s blogs.