Heart of The Ocean - Original and Reproductions

Original and Reproductions

London-based jewelers Asprey & Garrard used cubic zirconias set in white gold to create the Edwardian style necklace used as a prop in the film. The cost to create the necklace was approximately $10,000. Today the prop is with George Holmes, who bought it off Fox Studios in 2009. After the film's success, Asprey & Garrard were commissioned to create an authentic "Heart of the Ocean" necklace using the original design. The result was a platinum-set, 171-carat (34 g) heart-shaped Ceylon sapphire surrounded by 103 diamonds. The necklace was valued for up to $4 million and was donated to Sotheby's auction house in Beverly Hills for an auction benefitting the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and Southern California's Aid For AIDS. It was sold to an unidentified Asprey client for $2.2 million, under the agreement that Celine Dion would wear it two nights later at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony. She sang the film's theme song "My Heart Will Go On." Neither of Asprey's creations have ever been made available for public viewing.

During the same period, jeweler Harry Winston used a 15-carat (3.0 g) blue diamond in his interpretation of the necklace. This $20 million necklace was worn by Gloria Stuart (old Rose) to the 1998 Academy Awards.

Less expensive reproductions have also been available since the release of the film. The J. Peterman Company made reproductions in 1997 when the film was released. Their necklace consisted of 137 Austrian crystals and a detachable, inauthentic "blue diamond" pendant packaged in a navy blue, hinged presentation box. Although no longer available through J. Peterman, various replica movie necklaces are available through online purchase within the decade from the release of the movie. In Spring 2012 it was revealed that the Heart of the Ocean is a real necklace. It was given to passenger Kate Florence Phillips by her married lover, Samuel Morley, as the pair fled to America to make a new life for themselves. Morley perished in the sinking, and it is believed that this tragic love story may have been the inspiration for James Cameron's film.