The French Blue

"A fascinating tale of adventure and global intrigue." 
—Gems & Gemology

Forty years, sixty thousand leagues, and six perilous voyages bring to life the extraordinary adventures of Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the seventeenth-century gem merchant whose travels became forever entwined with the history of the world's most famous jewel.

Between 1630 and 1668, Tavernier journeyed six times to Persia and India, the land of the Great Mogul. Traveling by caravan through jungles and across desert wastes and by ship through raging battles and storm-tossed seas, he faced dangers that rival the exploits of any fictional hero.

Along the way, Jean Baptiste meets his great love, Madeleine de Goisse, the beautiful illegitimate daughter of a French courtesan and a Persian king. But his lifelong pursuit of the magnificent 116-carat Great Blue diamond will test the limits of his courage and ambition. To claim it, he must survive bandits and religious zealots while outwitting a greedy Mogul prince.

The remains of that legendary stone are housed today in the Smithsonian, where it is known as the Hope Diamond. For the first 250 years of its history, however, it was known simply as the French Blue.

Spanning three continents, The French Blue is an epic tale of adventure, romance, ambition, and the remarkable history behind the world's most famous diamond.