John Hatleburg Creating Hope Diamond Replicas for the Smithsonian

From left, the Tavernier, French Blue and Hope Diamond replicas.Credit: John Bigelow Taylor and Dianne Dubler

John Hatleburg (Sculpture ’82) is working on the world’s most glamourous quarantine project according to The New York Times. While the Smithsonian is closed, he is working on replicas of the Hope Diamond. The replicas show what the diamond looked like at various points in history since it was first cut into what is known as the Tavernier stone, named for French gem dealer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.

Hatleburg also describes some of his past projects and the challenges of creating famous gemstone replicas.

Read more about the Hope Diamond replica project and the diamond’s history from The New York Times here.