13. Lucky number - let's talk about the rumors

1.The stone 'the Heart of the Ocean' in Titanic was based on the Hope Diamond.

This is true. James Cameron has admitted to basing the stone on the Hope. The Hope is a cushion shape surrounded by white diamonds on a necklace, and the Heart of the Ocean is a heart shape (and much much larger than the Hope) also surrounded by white diamonds, on a necklace. Sometime after the film was made, a large fine sapphire was discovered and cut into a heart shape and placed into a necklace identical to the prop used in the film - except with genuine stones. The necklace was worn by Celine Dion at several events, and was later sold for over $1 million. This is one of the rare cases in the history of fine jewelry where a genuine stone was cut based on a fake, rather than vice-versa.


2.There really was a Heart of the Ocean necklace that sank with the Titanic.

This is false. Nor was the Hope Diamond (the gem the Heart of the Ocean was based on) ever on the Titanic. Evalyn Walsh McLean, however, owned the Hope Diamond from 1910 up til her death in 1947, and she had considered booking a trip on the Titanic's maiden--and only--voyage in 1912. Fortunately, she decided not to.


3. Diamonds are the most valuable gemstone in the world.?
This seems like it should be true, but its not. Diamonds are very valuable in the world of gems, but a fine ruby is actually worth more. There are far more large diamonds in this world than there are large rubies. The Mogok Ruby presently holds the world record for the most valuable ruby, in terms of the highest price fetched at a sale. It is a 15.97-carat rectangular cushion cut sold by Sotheby's of New York in October 18th, 1988 for $3,630,000 ($227,301 per-carat). The stone is untreated, that is, it was not heated to improve its color. It was purchased by Laurence Graff of London, who reportedly sold it to the Sultan of Brunei as an engagement ring for one of his wives. The Mandalay Ruby is the largest faceted ruby I have ever heard of, but I do not know whether it is the largest.

Reference : http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/faq.html