<P> Winston had never believed in any of the tales about the curse; he donated the diamond with the hope that it would help the United States "establish a gem collection ." Winston died many years later, in 1978, of a heart attack . Winston's gift, according to Smithsonian curator Dr. Jeffrey Post, indeed helped spur additional gifts to the museum . </P> <P> For its first four decades in the National Museum of Natural History, the Hope Diamond lay in its necklace inside a glass - fronted safe as part of the gems and jewelry gallery, except for a few brief excursions: a 1962 exhibition to the Louvre; the 1965 Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg, South Africa; and two visits back to Harry Winston's premises in New York City, once in 1984, and once for a 50th anniversary celebration in 1996 . To guard against theft during the diamond's trip to the 1962 Louvre exhibition, Switzer traveled to Paris with the Hope Diamond tucked inside a velvet pouch sewn by his wife . The Hope Diamond was placed into the pouch, which was pinned inside Switzer's pants pocket for the flight . </P> <P> When the Smithsonian's gallery was renovated in 1997, the necklace was moved onto a rotating pedestal inside a cylinder made of 3 - inch (76 mm) thick bulletproof glass in its own display room, adjacent to the main exhibit of the National Gem Collection, in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals . The Hope Diamond is the most popular jewel on display and the collection's centerpiece . In 1988, specialists with the Gemological Institute of America graded it and noticed "evidence of wear" and its "remarkably strong phosphorescence" with its clarity "slightly affected by a whitish graining which is common to blue diamonds ." A highly sensitive colorimeter found tiny traces of a "very slight violet component" which is imperceptible to normal vision . </P> <P> In 2005, the Smithsonian published a year - long computer - aided geometry research which officially acknowledged that the Hope Diamond is, in fact, part of the stolen French Blue crown jewel . </P>

Where is the hope diamond located in the smithsonian