The amazing story behind Titanic’s ‘Heart of the Ocean’ portrait 

There’s hardly anyone in the world who hasn’t watched the iconic Hollywood romantic epic Titanic. As most of you would agree, it has withstood the test of time. It was after all a film that made the world relive a real-life global disaster through a memorable love story. This Oscar winning film (11, no less!) starred Leonardo Di Caprio in the role of the male lead Jack, a poor artist and falls in love with Kate Winslet’s Rose, a rebellious aristocrat who dares to fall in love with him, despite class barriers. 

Now, those who have seen the movie minutely, would definitely remember the famous portrait of the heroine Rose wearing nothing but the ‘Heart of the Ocean’ diamond necklace that was perfected on screen by none other than the hero Jack. It was a scene that symbolised a moment of liberation for two young lovers from the societal confinement.  

Now, here comes the million-dollar question: Who actually made the sketch? Was it some famous artist who was commissioned by the film’s producers? Or was it the actor himself? Turns out, it’s neither.  

Did Jack sketch Rose’s portrait? 
As we have already mentioned, the answer is no. Contrary to popular belief, Jack, aka, Leonardo Di Caprio did not sketch the risqué portrait of Rose wearing the ‘Heart of the Ocean’ neckpiece, although it did appear so and the actor is a decent artist in real-life. In fact, if you look closely, you would observe that the hand moving across the page and drawing one of the most breath-taking on-screen portraits isn’t that of the actor. Okay, so who was it? Brace yourselves, for the answer is as surprising as it can get. It was none other that the film’s scriptwriter and director himself, James Cameron.  

Decoding the left-handed versus right-handed confusion 
Okay, so Cameron (an accomplished artist and illustrator by passion) drew the world-famous portrait of Rose. But that still doesn’t answer the question: How did the left-handed Cameron manage to draw a perfect portrait with his right hands? After all, we do see Di Caprio sketching it with his right hand! Well, here goes the truth: Since Cameron is a leftie, he used the magic of mirror image (simply flipped the film!) and made it look as if the righty Di Caprio made the wonderful portrait. Well, Cameron not only drew the sketch of Rose but also did so while recording it (yes, on camera!), and the hand we see on screen is really his.  

Bonus fact: The artwork was auctioned soon after the film’s release and even fetched a whooping USD 16,000.  

‘Heart of the Ocean’ necklace 
Not many know, but the famous ‘Heart of the Ocean’ necklace that Rose wore in the movie Titanic was inspired by the Hope Diamond and Sapphire, a real-life neckpiece comprising of 171 carat heart-shaped Ceylon sapphire (vibrant electric blue in colour) surrounded by 103 diamonds. It was owned by Kate Florence Phillips, who had survived the real-world Titanic disaster. Sources cite that she had worn the necklace on the cruise that was gifted to her by her husband Samuel Morley, who had succumbed during the tragedy. The couple had secretly been sailing as second-class passengers on the Titanic and was hoping to start a new life away from their hometown. The real necklace is valued at 2.5 million Euros.