A modernised necklace featuring the famous Hope Diamond has been unveiled to commemorate the gem's half-century on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
The giant blue diamond was donated to the Smithsonian by Harry Winston, sending it from New York to Washington by registered mail more than a half-century ago.
The Hope Diamond is 'the world's largest deep blue diamond. It's a diamond that formed deep in the Earth over a billion years ago', explained Jeffrey Post, the Curator of the Smithsonian's National Gem Collection.
'Truly one of the world's, the Earth's, most rare creations, and perhaps, one of the most beautiful, an extraordinary object.'
Traditionally the Hope has been in a necklace displayed in an oval setting surrounded by a series of white diamonds.
The new design places the diamond in a wider triple-strand necklace that curves around the blue gem, embracing it and reuniting at the bottom.
The design was chosen from three possibilities in an online vote of more than 100,000 people.
The Hope will be shown in this setting for a year before being returned to its traditional one.
The 45.52-carat diamond was long thought to have a curse, bringing bad luck to its owners.
However, Smithsonian officials say it has been kind to them, drawing throngs of visitors. It attracts an estimated 7m visitors a year, the museum reports.
Formed more that a billion years ago, the diamond was mined in India and later is believed to have been part of the French crown jewels, having been stolen during the French Revolution.
It later came into the possession of Henry Philip Hope, a prominent British banker from the early 1800s whose name it now carries.
