The Heart of the Ocean is the fictional blue sapphire necklace at the centre of the 1997 James Cameron film Titanic. The piece does not exist as a historical jewel; it was invented for the film, drawing visual inspiration from the actual Hope Diamond. The cultural impact of the film, however, was significant enough that several real jewels were subsequently produced as Heart of the Ocean pieces for promotional and charity purposes, and the term has acquired a measurable presence in the gemmological and jewellery literature.

The fictional piece in the film

In the film, the Heart of the Ocean is described as a 56-carat heart-shaped blue diamond, originally cut from the Crown of Louis XVI and subsequently in the possession of various aristocratic owners before being acquired by Caledon Hockley as a gift to his fiancee Rose DeWitt Bukater. The fictional provenance is loosely based on the historical career of the French Blue, the 67.125-carat blue diamond of Louis XIV that was stolen during the French Revolution, recut, and re-emerged as the Hope Diamond in London by 1812.

The film prop was designed by Asprey of London at James Cameron's request and was made of cubic zirconia in a heart-shaped antique cushion form, set in a base-metal mount with white-stone surrounds. Several copies of the prop were made for production, lighting, and stunt work. The principal hero prop was retained by the production company.

The Asprey real-jewel commission

Following the success of the film, Asprey was commissioned to produce a real Heart of the Ocean as a charity auction piece. The Asprey commission was made with a 170.99-carat heart-shaped Ceylon sapphire and 65 round-brilliant diamonds totalling 30 carats, set in platinum. The piece was loaned to Celine Dion to wear at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, where Dion performed the film's theme song My Heart Will Go On. The piece was subsequently auctioned at Sotheby's for a charity benefit, realising approximately 1.4 million dollars.

Other Heart of the Ocean pieces have been produced subsequently. The London jeweller Harry Winston created a version with a 15-carat blue diamond as a private commission, reported in the trade press but not publicly displayed. Several lesser commercial pieces sold under the Heart of the Ocean designation have been produced for the secondary jewellery market, generally with synthetic or moderate-quality natural sapphires.

The historical sources

The fictional provenance in the film draws on the real career of the French Blue diamond and the Hope Diamond, both of which are documented historical objects. The French Blue was acquired in India by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, the French gem merchant who travelled to the Mughal Empire repeatedly in the seventeenth century, and was sold by him to Louis XIV in 1668. The diamond was recut for the French crown jewels into a 67.125-carat triangular form known as the Diamond of the Crown.

The diamond was stolen during the storming of the Garde-Meuble in September 1792 during the French Revolution. It is widely accepted on gemological evidence developed by Scott Sucher, Jean-Marc Fourcault, and others through computer reconstruction of the historical stone, that the recut Hope Diamond is the same stone as the French Blue, modified by the cutter or cutters who handled it after the theft. The Hope Diamond is now in the Smithsonian Institution, donated by Harry Winston in 1958.

The fictional Heart of the Ocean borrows the historical French connection and the blue colour but transforms the cut into a heart shape (which the historical stones never were) and ascribes a continuous romantic provenance that the historical stones did not have. The fictionalisation is acknowledged in the film's production materials.

Cultural impact

The Heart of the Ocean is one of the most widely recognised fictional gems in twentieth- and twenty-first-century film, on a level with the One Ring of The Lord of the Rings and the Maltese Falcon. The film's success contributed measurably to renewed consumer interest in heart-shaped diamonds and in significant blue stones during the late 1990s and 2000s. The market for heart-shaped diamonds at the higher end has been more robust than it was in the previous decade, although the heart cut remains a minority shape compared to round brilliant, princess, cushion, and oval.

The fictional gem also drew renewed attention to the Hope Diamond and to the historical French Blue. Smithsonian visitor numbers to the Hope Diamond exhibit increased measurably in the years following the film's release, and several scholarly and popular publications on the Hope appeared in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Richard Kurin's Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem in 2006.

Trade considerations

For the contemporary trade, the Heart of the Ocean is a useful illustration of how cinematic depictions can shape consumer expectations and demand for specific cuts and colours. Heart-shaped sapphires and diamonds with substantial size and saturated blue colour have benefited from association with the film. Heart-shaped diamond engagement rings, while still a minority of the market, have been more widely available since the late 1990s than in the preceding decades. The piece is also a useful case study in how authentic historical objects can become the basis for fictional pieces that, in turn, recirculate public attention to the originals.