Waiting on Wednesday: The French Blue by Richard W. Wise

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.



I can't pinpoint exactly why, but something about the description of
The French Blue by Richard W. Wise really attracted me. From the author's website:

On a dark night in September of 1792, someone made off with the 69 carat French Blue diamond. Confiscated from King Louis XVI by the revolutionaries of the French National Assembly, the gem, along with the rest of the French Crown Jewels, had been secreted in a royal storehouse for safe keeping. Many of the gems stolen that night were subsequently recovered by the French government. The French Blue was never seen or heard of again.

In September of 1812, a deep blue diamond weighing 177 grains (44.25 carats) was reported in the possession of London diamond merchant, Daniel Eliason. In 1830 this stone, now listed at its correct weight of 44.52 carats, became part of the collection of the Anglo-Dutch financier Henry Philip Hope. Most scholars have come to believe that the Hope Diamond is a recut version of the original French Blue.