Ohio Chapter: Geneology of the Hope Diamond and Opal Digging
Sunday, October 28, 2018
11:00 a.m.
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221
Sucher was the featured expert gem cutter in the Discovery documentary "Unsolved History: The Hope Diamond" that first aired in March 2005 and the 2010 National Geographic program “Secrets of the Hope Diamond.” Sucher’s presentation will summarize the research performed for these programs and will show how the latest in forensics and computer modeling reveals its history, with a surprise ending about the diamond, missing 20 years, when the French Blue was cut into the Hope. As a result of the Discovery filming, Sucher was privileged to be alone in the Smithsonian vault with the unset Hope diamond, the Blue Heart diamond and Napoleon’s Necklace.
Also, if you ever wanted to go opal digging in Lightning Ridge, Australia but never had the opportunity, Sucher will take us down into the mines to dig shoulder-to-shoulder with the miners, then process the ore to get to the good stuff. After this presentation you will get an appreciation of the difficulties historic miners and modern ones have to go through to get a wonderful opal gem out of the ground and onto your finger.
Sucher is a retired Air Force combat search and rescue/special operations instructor pilot. He is an acknowledged expert in the history and cutting of famous historical diamonds, having published articles on the French Blue, Tavernier Blue, and Koh-i-Noor diamonds in Gems and Gemology, Review de Gemologie in France, plus a few others. He has had several international displays and has co-displayed with GIA at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show for several years. He has also guided projects with the National History Museum, London and the Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle in Paris and his stonecutting work is on permanent exhibit in many museums. Sucher was the keynote speaker for GIA’s 2011 John Sinkankas Diamond Symposium.
