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Heart of the Ocean Necklace: Fictional Titanic Jewel Inspired by Historic Blue Diamonds January 06, 2026 (0 comments)
New York, NY--The Heart of the Ocean necklace, a central plot device in the 1997 film Titanic, was a fictional jewel that played a key role in the film's storyline, according to Only Natural Diamonds. The necklace is repeatedly referenced as treasure hunters search the wreck of the RMS Titanic, while Rose DeWitt Bukater ultimately reveals she kept the jewel after the ship sank in 1912.
[Featured image by Paramount Pictures/CBS via Getty Images via Only Natural Diamonds]
As outlined in the report, the necklace appears in several important scenes, including Jack Dawson's sketch of Rose, Cal Hockley's attempt to frame Jack for theft, and Rose's decision to discard the jewel into the Atlantic Ocean decades later.
The report noted that the Heart of the Ocean was not a real diamond. The prop used in the film was cubic zirconia. Production designer Peter Lamont commissioned British jeweler Asprey & Garrard to produce multiple versions for filming, citing cost constraints that ruled out using a natural stone of that size.
[Image by Getty Images via Only Natural Diamonds]
After production ended, Only Natural Diamonds reported that Asprey created a real version of the necklace featuring a 171-carat blue Sri Lankan sapphire and 103 natural diamonds. The piece was auctioned in Beverly Hills in 1998 for $2.2 million, with proceeds benefiting AIDS charities and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.
The recreated necklace was later worn by Celine Dion at the 1998 Academy Awards during her performance of "My Heart Will Go On," per the report. The necklace was accompanied by heightened security during the event.
[Image by National Museum of Natural History via Only Natural Diamonds]
According to the report, the fictional Heart of the Ocean drew inspiration from historic blue diamonds, including the Hope Diamond. Another comparable stone, the Blue Heart Diamond, was graded by the Gemological Institute of America in 1997 as a natural fancy deep blue diamond with VS-2 clarity.
Learn more in this article by Only Natural Diamonds.