I saw on Yahoo today that a rare blue diamond was sold for $7.98 million in Hong Kong, setting a new record as the most expensive gemstone per carat. I saw “blue diamond” and immediately thought of the infamous Hope Diamond.
If you haven’t heard about the Hope Diamond curse, let me tell you about it. The Hope Diamond is 45.52 carats of beautiful blue diamond. The blue color is derived due to traces of boron within the diamond. Now I love diamonds as much as the next girl, but the Hope Diamond is one you probably don’t want to mess with. I don’t think even Elizabeth Taylor would have accepted this one!
The Hope Diamond is believed to be traced from a diamond named Tavernier Blue, which was found in India. It was purchased by French merchant traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier sometimes around 1660. The legend is that this diamond was stolen from the eye of a sculpture of the Hindu goddess Sita by Tavernier. Once the priests found out the diamond had been stolen, they put a curse upon whoever owned it. However, this is probably just a tale as the other eye diamond was never found.
In 1668, the diamond was sold to King Louis XIV, who wore it during special ceremonies. Now good old Louis XIV died at the ripe of age of 75, but upon his death, the diamond was handed down to Louis XVI. This may be where the “curse” started. Louis XVI gave the diamond to Marie Antoinette and we all know what happened to her. The diamond was stolen by six men. One of them tried to sell the diamond in London but he eventually ended up in prison. Louis XVI was eventually executed for high treason.
The diamond has been blamed for the fall of grace for Louis XIV’s mistress Athenais de Montespan (with whom he had seven children), for the downfall of Louis XIV’s French finance minister Nicolas Fouquet (he was imprisoned for life and died after being confined to the fortress in Pignerol for 15 years), and Princess de Lamballe (she was murdered in a most horrible way). The legend throws in a few people who cannot really be firmly linked to the diamond.
With the Hope Diamond death count at three, you might be thinking “Eh, what curse?” It gets better. Stories of a curse started circulating around 1909 when on June 25th, Time magazine wrote and article about the diamond, its owners, and their notorious ends.
How did the diamond get its name? It got its name when Henry Philip Hope bought it in 1824. When Henry died in 1839, it was passed down through subsequent generations of the Hope family. By 1894, it reached the hands of Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton Hope (oh my, how did my last name get in all that?). Known as Lord Francis, Henry allowed his wife, May Yohe, to wear it to gatherings. She blamed her failed career and several failed marriages on the diamond’s curse. Lord Francis was a big spender – too big in fact. He had to claim bankruptcy in 1896. May left him in 1902. His second wife Olive Muriel Thompson bore him three children, but suddenly died in 1912.
By the early 1900’s, the diamond had made its way to the U.S., thanks to diamond dealer Simon Frankel. He sold it to Saloman Habib, who had to sell it to Pierre Cartier to pay off his debts. Cartier sold it to socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean. Her grandchildren sold it in 1949 to Harry Winston (another big jewelry name). He finally donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. The way he sent it is quite amusing. He sent this valuable and rare blue diamond to the institution through the U.S. mail in a brown paper bag.
The diamond has been safely stored at the Smithsonian since 1958 and there have been no reports of any unusual incidents. But then again, it is behind glass. The Smithsonian was able to do research on the diamond to confirm that it was part of the French crown jewel.