Titanic necklace to be given away via YouTube competition

Kate Winslet wearing the Heart of the Ocean necklace in a still from the film Titanic Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

$15,000 replica of the Heart of the Ocean, which featured prominently in James Cameron's 1997 film, is to be given away online

The studio behind the 3D rerelease of Titanic are to give away one of six necklaces worth $15,000 (£9,350) and based on the Heart of the Ocean medallion worn by Kate Winslet in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster.

Fox Mexico have commissioned jewellery designer Daniel Espinosa to recreate the iconic prop. The replicas consist of a blue, heart-shaped zirconia surrounded by 106 diamond-cut zirconias set in sterling silver, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Five of the necklaces will be auctioned to private collectors, but a sixth will be up for grabs to the public via a worldwide competition on YouTube, details of which are yet to be announced.

In Cameron's film, a modern-day treasure hunter's search for the Heart of the Ocean becomes the framing device for the retelling of the love affair between an English aristocrat, Rose Calvert (Winslet), and a working-class American, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio). The necklace plays a key role in many scenes, including a confrontation in which Rose's fiance (Billy Zane) accuses Jack of stealing the treasure, and a scene where Jack draws Rose nude, except for the necklace. That scene, considered too raunchy for Indian audiences in 1997, has been reinstated for the international version of the film's rerelease.

The inclusion of the Heart of the Ocean in Cameron's movie was thought to be inspired by the real-life story of Titanic passenger Kate Florence Phillips, who was given a blue diamond necklace by her married lover before he died when the ship sank.

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