A B S O L U T E A
C
T
I ILLUMINATING O N
THE HOPE DIAMOND
"....a triumph of creativity in contemporary lighting technology."
Washington DC September 1997
REPRINTED FROM LIGHTING EQUIPMENT NEWS - DECEMBER 1997 Hope & glory
Reportedl the world s most viewed artefact, the Hope diamond has been relit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Histor in Washington DC. It means that a diamond with a histor steeped in the m tholog of curses and ill fortune can finall be seen in a new light. B Mark Faithfull. The Hope diamond, 45.52 carats and valued at $200 million et with a m sterious and often tragic past.
hen it concept and after seeing the Using a replica supplied by exhibit was adjusted and bal- comes to fibre optic installation at the the Smithsonian, the exact anced to generate the correct the Hope Royal Ontario Museum for spatial environment was display mode. diamond the Peered Gem and Gold recreated and the fibre optic Huge numbers of glass fact and Collection suggested systems set up and run as fibre cables - from Schott - wfiction are almost inseparable. approaching the company though installed in Washing- were needed with complex The 45.5 carat gemstone is responsible, UK fibre optic ton. The Napoleon Necklace runs as each gem or piece of worth $200 million and is specialist Absolute Action. The complexity of the pro- is lit from high and low jewellery had its own lighting apparently the most viewed Working on what manag- ject meant that Dawson-Tarr level to bring out its needs. The approach meant precious stone in the world. ing director Emma and her colleagues were con- sparkling qualities. that every exhibit throughout yet it has an infamous past of Dawson-Tarr describes as stantly travelling across the curses and bad luck. a fairly general brief the Atlantic. "I flew seven times Curse or not the diamond firm created what she over the five months of the has caused massive interest believes is the most project," she recalls, "and I since Harry Winston donated elaborate, bespoke lighting spent two weeks locked away it to the Smithsonian museum system ever generated to light a in the cage [the nickname for in 1958 and every day attracts single artefact. The work the secure area where the huge queues of visitors. Yet also expanded, with Absolute gem collection was stored] the lighting scheme meant Action eventually involved in to carry out lighting tests, At that the dazzling beauty of lighting all the famous Gem the time all the gems were the stone was not apparent to cabinets and several other pulled out of safe storage and onlookers and so as part of a areas of the galleries. To into prototype display cases." $13 million refurbishment of assist with the advanced opti- Working with several sets the museum's Hall of Geol- cal work, Absolute Action of multi-feature fibre optic ogy, Gems and Minerals a consulted with Dr David equipment, every single gem- new storage case and lighting Dustin, professor of physics at stone and item of jewellery scheme was installed. Queen Mary and Westfield was set up as though in its Washington-based lighting College. Electronic and elec- finished environment. Then, designer Light'n Up was tromechanical systems for in close consultation with the responsible for the design the exhibit were developed curators, the lighting for each and generated in-house.
R E P R I N T E D FROM LIGHT I N G E c I P M E N T N E W S D E C E M B E R 1 9 9 7 chosen for its cold white light The curse while for warm toned dia- monds, topaz and purple of the stone coloured jades 3000 degrees Kelvin has been selected. The original 112 carat stone was mined in "Diamonds come in all India. In 1668 a colours," explains Dawson- Frenchman called Tarr, "so different colour tem- Tavernier stole it from peratures work with different the eye of a statue of the stones. We had one tiny red goddess Sita, wife of Rama, and sold it to diamond which just wouldn't Louis IV but on a trip light up and in the end we back to India Tavernier chose a special lens which I was savaged to death by think was only two tenths of dogs. So rumours of a an inch diameter and sud- curse began. Louis IV had the denly it glowed beautifully. diamond cut into a 67- That little gem stone was carat heart shaped worth about $5 million." stone and named it the On 20 September, five Blue Diamond of the months after work started on Crown and the jewel remained in the French site, the Smithsonian's refur- courts where it the collection has its own diamond itself. bished halls with their unique continued to spread bad bespoke fibre optic system in For each position of the Below: Each gem is collection reopened. The luck until 1792 when it terms of fibre size, fibre loca- cycle, when the diamond picked out by an Hope diamond is now dis- was stolen from the ill- tion, lens specification and comes to rest, four dedicated individually sized and played in all its glory, a gem- fated Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It was beam controls where appro- absolutely image-sized beams positioned beam of light. stone to die for... recut by Wilhelm Fals, a priate. I wanted to keep runs of light fire into the heart of Dutch diamond cutter, as short as possible and the the blue diamond. These yet he is said to have capacities of the harnesses in extinguish again as the dia- died of grief after his son check; quality was our prior- mond starts to move on to Henrick stole the diamond and Henrick in ity," Dawson-Tarr recalls. the next face. For each posi- turn committed suicide. tion, the ambient light beams The diamond "The people at the Smithso- attain full intensity and then reappeared in London in nian were concerned about dim by 50 per cent during the 1830, cut to disguise its the cost of such an intensive diamond's rotation, All this identity and Henry Phillip Hope bought it, approach but this really is a fibre optic equipment had to giving it its current unique and priceless collec- be contained within the very name. tion and they decided that tight constraints of the verti- Its reputation for they just had to do it justice." cal mullions (some 50 mm bringing bad luck The Hope diamond is the half-channel profile housing continued after a spate centrepiece and is on show in of family tragedies when two fittings side by side, with millionairess Evalyn a display cabinet above a fibre running behind) or in Its collection of dazzling gems draws millions to the Walsh McLean bought it huge vault, so heavy that the the shallow false soffit above. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington in 1911. New York museum floor had to be rein- As a result a combination of every year. jeweller Harry Winston bought the diamond and forced. The diamond revolves achromatic lenses, prisms, other gems from her in and comes to rest in each graticules, optical mirrors and 1947 and handed the quadrant with a full revolu- baffles was developed to con- Hope diamond on tion taking around a minute. trol, bend and image the light to the Two metal halide lamps are within these constraints. Smithsonian in 1958. Who located in the soffit space When the lighting is off dis- can blame above the display vitrine. play the whole mount him? One unit has a dimmer descends into the vault below. operation and the other its "In an emergency it all hap- own dedicated computer con- pens amazingly quickly," says trolling a shuttering system Dawson-Tarr, "the mount which releases light into one drops down and the doors segment of the fibre optic shut tight behind it." Two dif- harness at a time. The first ferent colour temperatures of projector controls the ambient metal halide lamp have been lighting over the platform and used. For clear diamonds setting, the second is the (including the Hope), emer- source for the beams of light alds, sapphires and crystals which illuminate just the 4000 degree Kelvin has been blue, central stone, the Hope REPRINTED FROM LIGHTING EQUIPMENT NEWS - DECEMBER 1997 A B s 0 L u T E •A
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