The infamous 45.52-carat deep-blue diamond – blue to the naked eye with its trace amounts of metalloid element, boron – exhibits red phosphorence under UV light.

The classified IIB diamond was donated to the Washington based museum by Harry Winston Jewellers who are preparing its new setting for late 2010.

The stone was originally set in a platinum Cartier setting, surrounded by 16 white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds, and suspended from a chain with 45 diamonds. Its new setting was decided recently by an online vote. The stone is also famous for being cursed. Allegedly its original form was stolen from a hindu temple, from its setting as one of the eyes of an idol, and the temple priests then laid a curse on whoever might possess the stone.

The Hope Diamond has been blamed for the unhappy fates of historical figures including the beheading of Marie Antoinette and forced abdication of Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid who killed members of his court because of the stone.

The Hope Diamond is the most popular stone on display at the Smithsonian Museum. In February 2005 the Smithsonian Institution announced the findings of year-long computer-aided geometry research and declared it to officially be part of the stolen French Blue crown jewel.

The 11 short-listed designs will be displayed in the expo curated by museum art director, Yehuda Kassif.

“The jewellery designs showed many different influences, some of them surprising,” Kassif told Rapaport News.

“There were motifs that reflected local plants such as pomegranates, the Sabra cactus and sheaves of wheat, as well as birds of Israel, archaeological sites, desert landscapes, urban high rises and even quotes from Israel’s Declaration of Independence,”

Important contribution to the world of diamond jewellery

Shmuel Schnitzer, chairman of the IDI board, added: “I am amazed at the originality and creativity of the designers and how they have been able to weave their personal histories into their designs. I am convinced that Israeli design can make an important contribution to the world of diamond jewellery.”

First prize was awarded to a ‘Tree of Life’ ring made of blackened gold, set with 60 diamonds, and featuring motifs from the Kabbalah, designed by student of mysticism, Shaoul-Aharon Elisha.

Second prize went to a pair of ‘Heart Earrings’, made of white gold, with white and black diamonds, and featuring an olive branch and heart-shapes, designed by Orly Eizenman, an insurance agent and poet, with Drorit Vaserberger, an artist and diver.

Third prize was given to an ‘Eternal Light’ Ring, made up of moving parts, of white and yellow gold, with white and coloured diamonds. Yaniv Shapiro, a 10th-generation Israeli and Shenkar jewellery design graduate, created the ring to exemplify the past, present and future of Israel with symbols of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the Star of David and ancient Hebrew script.

The ‘Sixty Diamonds and Many More’ exhibition at The Harry Oppenheimer Diamond Museum in the Israel Diamond Complex, Ramat Gan closes at the end of December 2009.