The Story of the Hope Diamond Which Ruined Its Owners' Lives
“The King's jewel,” “The blue of France” - these are some nicknames for the most mysterious
and seemingly dangerous gem in history. The selected few who were “lucky” enough to
possess the famous Hope Diamond died horrific deaths. But in the beginning, nobody could
foresee the trouble...
The gemstone, which is now called the Hope Diamond, was formed deep within the Earth
more than 1 billion years ago! According to Karl Shuker, British crypto-zoologist and
author of the book “The Unexplained,” the diamond was originally used as one of
the decorations of an Indian temple idol. But one day a Hindu priest decided it was
far too beautiful and valuable to leave there and plucked it out. He was severely punished,
of course, but the Hope Diamond was already out of the temple and in the hands of a famous
French merchant – Jean-Baptiste Tavernier.
And here's where the story becomes a little blurry. Some say that Tavernier stole the
diamond from the previous owner, while others are sure he bought it. Rumor also has it that
Tavernier had a serious raging fever not long after he got the marvelous Hope Diamond. One
thing is for sure – he quickly sold it to King Louis XIV of France, along with a couple
of other goodies.
King Louis XIV decided to change the famous diamond a bit and asked his jeweler to make
it triangular and set it in gold. After two years of work, the Hope Diamond was ready.
The king usually wore it on his neck for ceremonial occasions. The diamond quickly caught everyone's
attention and got nicknamed “The Blue Diamond of the Crown” and “French Blue.” However,
the Hope Diamond curse got to King Louis XIV as well – he died suffering of gangrene.
Moreover, all but one of his children didn't make it passed their childhood, though it
wasn't that uncommon those days.
The King’s successor, King Louis XV, asked the court jeweler to reset the diamond once
again for the Order of the Golden Fleece. Then came Louis XVI who, according to some
sources, often let his wife, Marie Antoinette, wear the beautiful gem. Well, we know how
that went, don’t we? Both Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed by guillotine
during the French revolution. The Hope Diamond was stolen from the Royal Storehouse shortly after.
A couple of years passed and the diamond was suddenly discovered in England. Well how did
it get there? Several sources confirmed that it was actually owned by King George IV of
the United Kingdom. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but this king's life story wasn't that happy
either – he decreased the prestige of the monarchy and was one of the most unpopular
rulers in the history of the UK. Eventually, his unhealthy lifestyle made him extremely
obese and almost completely blind from cataracts. He didn't leave any descendants and died from
gastrointestinal bleeding. George IV also left enormous debts, so after his death the
Hope Diamond was, apparently, sold through private channels.
The next recorded owner of the mysterious and terrifying diamond was rich London banker
Thomas Hope. After his death, his brother Henry Philip Hope got the diamond and even
put it in his gem collection catalog in 1839. However, Henry died that same year! That raised
only one question: who gets his large and spectacular gem collection now? Henry's nephews,
Thomas' sons, and his wife spent 10 years in court, battling for their rights to own
the collection, but in the end it got split up. The “happy” owner was Henry's oldest
nephew Henry Thomas Hope. Surprisingly, the diamond stayed in the family for many years,
hence its most commonly used name. But in 1902 it was sold once again to a London jewel
merchant.
After that, the Hope Diamond changed owners many times. One of them was the last Turkish
sultan Abdul Hamid II. Shortly after he bought the diamond, his life was completely changed
by the military revolution of the Young Turks. He was deported and spent his last days in
captivity. After this tragic story, the Hope Diamond was bought by none other than Pierre
Cartier. He reset the diamond and sold it to the McLean family. If only they knew what
was going to happen next...
At first everything was perfectly fine. Evalyn Walsh McLean absolutely adored the Hope Diamond
and wore it almost every single day. Sometimes she even put it in her dog's collar and allowed
it to wear it, as long as it was in the apartment. But the happiness didn't last long. First,
Evalyn's mother-in-law died. Then her 9-year-old son was in a car accident, and didn’t make
it. This broke her and her husband so much that he actually left for another woman and
later died in a mental hospital. At the same time their family business (the McLean family
owned the famous Washington Post, by the way) went bankrupt. But the misfortunes didn't
stop there – Evalyn's daughter passed away when she was just 25! Nonetheless, Evalyn
didn't believe in the Hope Diamond curse and the jewel was still kept in the family. Then
Evalyn died, and, as the family was carrying huge debts, the rest of her children had to
sell the diamond to improve their financial situation. Hmmm. Doesn’t say here what finally
happened to the dog.
Undaunted by rumors of the curse, famous American jeweler Harry Winston was the next to buy
the diamond. So for the next 10 years or so, the Hope Diamond was the hot new thing at
many exhibits and charity events held by Harry Winston Inc. However, it didn't stay in the
company for long – Harry Winston decided to donate the diamond to the Smithsonian Institute's
National Museum of Natural History. And, believe it or not, it's still there to this day! Now
the Hope Diamond weighs a little bit over 45 carats, still has its deep greyish-blue
color, and even produces a dangerous red glow if you decide to expose it to short-wave ultraviolet
light. Why would you do that? I don’t know. Needless to say, it’s still worth a crazy
amount of money! So if you wanna see this legendary gem with your own two eyes, the
museum is always open for visitors.
Despite the diamond's rich history, there are still heated debates as to whether it's
actually cursed or not. Some people are sure that all the legends about the jewel's cursed
origins were simply created to boost its popularity. I mean, the sales for the Hope Diamond were
always pretty high! Others say that the diamond wasn't originally stolen from India at all
– someone just bought it from there. And, hold on to your seat, its natural color was
white! Unless you hold it to the light, then you'll see beautiful light blue rays.
In 1911, the New York Times came out with a whole list of the diamond's supposed “victims.”
The list consisted of about 14 people who died tragic deaths not long after possessing
or even holding the Hope Diamond. Still, even if the curse does exist, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier,
King Louis XIV, Pierre Cartier, and many others died at a pretty old age. Of course, nobody
knows what the Hope Diamond is all about for sure, but one thing is certain – it remains
one of the most popular attractions in the Smithsonian Institute's Museum and still catches
everyone's attention!