Editing Hope Diamond (section)

===Smithsonian ownership===
[[File:Hope Diamond US Mail parcel-1958.jpg|thumb|right|[[Registered mail|Registered Mail]] package used to deliver the Hope Diamond to the National Museum of Natural History.]]
[[File:HopeDiamondUnset.JPG|right|thumb|The Hope Diamond prior to being put in its new setting at the National Gem Collection.]]
[[File:hopediamondnewset.jpg|right|thumb|The Hope Diamond in the "Embracing Hope" setting.]]
Smithsonian [[mineralogist]] [[George Switzer (mineralogist)|George Switzer]] is credited with persuading jeweler Harry Winston to donate the Hope Diamond for a proposed national gem collection to be housed at the [[National Museum of Natural History]].<ref name="wp">{{Cite news |last=Holley |first=Joe |date=March 27, 2008 |title=George Switzer; Got Hope Diamond for Smithsonian |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/26/AR2008032603029.html |access-date=April 13, 2008}}</ref> On November 10, 1958,<ref name=twsI44ll/> Winston acquiesced, sending it through [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Mail]] in a box wrapped in brown paper as simple [[registered mail]]<ref name=twsI35/> insured for $1 million at a cost of $145.29, of which $2.44 was for postage and the balance insurance.<ref name=twsI35/><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 29, 1909 |title=National Postal Museum |url=http://postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1d_Hope_Diamond.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927203629/http://postalmuseum.si.edu/museum/1d_Hope_Diamond.html |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |access-date=April 16, 2014 |publisher=Postalmuseum.si.edu}}</ref> Upon its arrival it became Specimen #217868.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Winston: The Man Who Gave Away The Gem |url=http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/hope_winston.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826234212/http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/hope_winston.html |archive-date=August 26, 2009 |access-date=August 24, 2009 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |quote=The addition of Specimen #217868 to the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is perhaps one of Winston's most laudable contributions to the American people.}}</ref>

Winston had never believed in any of the tales about the curse; he donated the diamond with the hope that it would help the United States "establish a gem collection."<ref name=twsI34/>

Winston died many years later, in 1978, of a heart attack. Winston's gift, according to Smithsonian curator Dr. Jeffrey Post, indeed helped spur additional gifts to the museum.<ref name="twsI44ee" />

For its first four decades in the [[National Museum of Natural History]], the Hope Diamond lay in its necklace inside a glass-fronted safe as part of the gems and jewelry gallery, except for a few brief excursions: a 1962 exhibition to the [[Louvre]];<ref name=twsI44fof/> the 1965 [[Rand Easter Show]] in Johannesburg, South Africa;<ref name=twsI44fof/> and two visits back to Harry Winston's premises in New York City, once in 1984,<ref name=twsI44fof/> and once for a 50th anniversary celebration in 1996.<ref name=twsI44fof/>

To guard against theft during the diamond's trip to the 1962 Louvre exhibition, Switzer traveled to Paris with the Hope Diamond tucked inside a velvet pouch sewn by his wife.<ref name="nytimes">{{Cite news |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |date=April 6, 2008 |title=George Switzer, 92, Dies; Started a Gem Treasury |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/us/06SWITZER.html |access-date=April 9, 2008}}</ref> The Hope Diamond was placed into the pouch, which was pinned inside Switzer's pants pocket for the flight.<ref name="nytimes" />

When the Smithsonian's gallery was renovated in 1997, the necklace was moved onto a rotating pedestal inside a cylinder made of {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}} thick bulletproof glass in its own display room, adjacent to the main exhibit of the National Gem Collection, in the [[Janet Annenberg Hooker]] Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals. The Hope Diamond is the most popular jewel on display and the collection's centerpiece.<ref name="twsI37">{{Cite news |date=February 2, 1988 |title=Washington Talk: Briefing; New Smithsonian Gem |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/02/us/washington-talk-briefing-new-smithsonian-gem.html |access-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref>

In 1988, specialists with the [[Gemological Institute of America]] graded it and noticed "evidence of wear" and its "remarkably strong phosphorescence" with its clarity "slightly affected by a whitish graining which is common to blue diamonds."<ref name="twsI44fof" /> A highly sensitive [[Tristimulus colorimeter|colorimeter]] found tiny traces of a "very slight violet component" which is imperceptible to normal vision.<ref name="twsI44fof" />

In 2005, the Smithsonian published a year-long computer-aided geometry research which officially acknowledged that the Hope Diamond is, in fact, cut from the stolen [[Tavernier Blue|French Blue]] crown jewel.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=February 9, 2005 |title=Tech Solves Hope Diamond Mystery |url=http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005/02/66560 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |access-date=December 25, 2007}}</ref>

In 2009, the Smithsonian announced a temporary new setting for the jewel to celebrate a half-century at the [[National Museum of Natural History]]. Starting in September 2009 it was exhibited as a stand-alone gem with no setting. It had been removed from its setting for cleaning from time to time, but this was the first time it would be on public display by itself. Previously it had been shown in a platinum setting, surrounded by 16 white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds, suspended from a chain containing forty-five diamonds.<ref name=":0" />

The Hope returned to its traditional setting in late 2010.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=August 19, 2009 |title=Hope Diamond to get new setting for anniversary |work=[[USA Today]] |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-19-hope-diamond-setting_N.htm |access-date=January 15, 2011}}</ref>

On November 18, 2010, the Hope Diamond was unveiled and displayed at the Smithsonian in a temporary newly designed necklace called "Embracing Hope", created by the Harry Winston firm.<ref name="twsI35">{{Cite news |last=AFP |date=November 20, 2010 |title=Storied Hope Diamond gets a new necklace |publisher=France 24 |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20101120-storied-hope-diamond-gets-new-necklace |access-date=July 9, 2011}}{{dead link|date=April 2017}}</ref> Three designs for the new setting, all white diamonds and white metal, were created and the public voted on the final version.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Righthand |first2=Jess |title=See the Hope Diamond in its New Setting, Unveiled Today at Natural History |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/see-the-hope-diamond-in-its-new-setting-unveiled-today-at-natural-history-2603861/ |access-date=2022-01-19 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

The Hope Diamond also is resting on a new dark blue neck form, which the Harry Winston firm commissioned from display organization, Pac Team Group. Previously, the Hope Diamond had been displayed as a loose gem since late summer of 2009 when it was removed from its former Cartier-designed setting. A Smithsonian curator described it as "priceless" because it was "irreplaceable", although it was reported to be insured for $250 million.<ref name="twsI35" />

On January 13, 2012, the diamond was returned to its historic setting, and the current necklace was implanted with another diamond worth "at least a million dollars". The necklace with the new diamond will be{{update inline|date=February 2024}} sold to benefit the Smithsonian.<ref name="twsI35" />