Stauer's Ocean Blue pendant made from lab-created blue spinel and diamonds
Richmond, VA—This week with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic—and the 3D film release of “Titanic”—interest in the famed “Heart of the Ocean” necklace is resurfacing, too.
Supposedly the blue sapphire necklace was originally given to passenger Kate Florence Phillips by her married lover, Samuel Morley. The couple was apparently fleeing to America in hopes of starting a new life. But an iceberg got in the way—as everyone knows. Morley didn’t survive, but Kate and Morley’s love story, which centered around the necklace, lives on—thanks to filmmaker James Cameron who used their story as inspiration for the love story in “Titanic.”
Once again, as happened with the film’s release in 1997, new versions of the famed blue diamond necklace are cropped up all over the web at prices starting at $15 and up. Jewelry retailer Stauer, known for their historical replicas, has created a new necklace inspired by the film’s famous “Heart of the Ocean” necklace.
Many Versions: From Precious to Paste
“Today, scientifically-created stones allow us to recapture the romance of that fateful voyage in a pendant that looks and feels truly luxurious,” said Michael Bisceglia, president of Stauer. His Ocean Blue pendant, retail $99, features a 27-carat lab-created blue spinel heart set in sterling silver and surrounded by one carat of lab-created white DiamondAura rounds. (www.Stauer.com)
The original necklace used during the filming was created by Asprey & Garrard and made from a blue cubic zirconia set in 18K white gold. Valued at about $10,000, that necklace is in Twentieth Century Fox’ archives. The English fine jewelry house was also commissioned to create the real “Heart of the Ocean” necklace based upon the original design: a 170-carat heart shaped Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 36 carats of white diamonds and set in platinum. The necklace, valued at $3.5 million, was sold at a benefit auction for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and Southern California’s Aid for AIDs for $2.2 million—with a stipulation. That being that Celine Dion would wear it to the 1998 Academy Awards when she sang the film’s theme song “My Heart Will Go on.”
Harry Winston also interpreted the “Heart of the Ocean” necklace using a 15-carat blue diamond, a $20 million version that “Titanic” actress Gloria Stuart wore to the 1998 Oscars.
A crystal version sells on Amazon.com for $19.99.
