Wittelsbach-Graff diamond will be displayed at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC will be putting up the blue 31.06-carat Wittelsbach-Graff diamond on display for seven months between January 28 to August 1, 2010. The stone was bought by Laurence Graff, at a Christie's auction in London for a record $24.3 million, a year ago. Graff is now lending the diamond to the Museum for exhibition and research.

The last time the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond was displayed was in 1958 at an exhibition in Brussels. The diamond is believed to be sourced from the Indian mine that produced the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond and the Museum will conduct a research to understand if the diamond has same properties as that of the Hope Diamond.