The Hope Diamond is a special deep blue colored diamond. Its color comes from the presence of small amounts of boron (B) in the crystal structure. The Hope Diamond has an interesting and tragic history. Its story began in India in 1668, when a French traveler, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, acquired a crudely cut 112 3/16_carat blue diamond. Some sources say Tavernier stole the gem from the eye of a temple statue. Tavernier returned to France, where he sold the gem to King Louis XIV of France in 1668. Tavernier soon went bankrupt. He decided to return to India, but almost drowned during the sea voyage. He died soon after arriving, supposedly being eaten by wild dogs. 

The Hope Diamond, surrounded by 16 smaller white diamonds