Pretty, isn't it? This is the Hope Diamond, also called the Tavernier Blue, a 45 carat cut diamond from India. But despite its beauty, it has a dark and sinister past.
According to legend, the diamond was cursed after being allegedly stolen from an Indian temple (the origin varies from story to story). The following owners of the diamond all met rather sticky ends:
Jacques Colet - suicide
Prince Ivan Kanitovski - killed by Russian revolutionaries
Mlle Ladue - murdered by her lover
Simon Mencharides - thrown from a precipice along with his wife and child
Abu Sabir - tortured in prison
Kulub Bey - hanged
Hehver Agha - hanged
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier - torn to pieces by wild dogs in Constantinople
Nicholas Fouquet - died in prison
Princess de Lamballe - torn to pieces by a French mob
William Fals - died bankrupt
Hendrik Fals - suicide
Francis Deaulieu - died in misery
Unfortunately, as romantic and exciting as this sounds, it seems that the "curse" was made up by the media in order to sell newspapers and enhance the mystique of the diamonds. In each case, the supposed victims fall into one of three categories: 1) they never existed, 2) there is no evidence they ever owned the diamond or 3) there is no evidence they died in the way described by the "curse". The earliest mention of the curse is from a newspaper in New Zealand in 1888. It's likely that this is where the story started. The diamond is currently being housed in the Smithsonian which, so far, has not encountered any ill fortune.
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More mysteries
According to legend, the diamond was cursed after being allegedly stolen from an Indian temple (the origin varies from story to story). The following owners of the diamond all met rather sticky ends:
Jacques Colet - suicide
Prince Ivan Kanitovski - killed by Russian revolutionaries
Mlle Ladue - murdered by her lover
Simon Mencharides - thrown from a precipice along with his wife and child
Abu Sabir - tortured in prison
Kulub Bey - hanged
Hehver Agha - hanged
Jean-Baptiste Tavernier - torn to pieces by wild dogs in Constantinople
Nicholas Fouquet - died in prison
Princess de Lamballe - torn to pieces by a French mob
William Fals - died bankrupt
Hendrik Fals - suicide
Francis Deaulieu - died in misery
Unfortunately, as romantic and exciting as this sounds, it seems that the "curse" was made up by the media in order to sell newspapers and enhance the mystique of the diamonds. In each case, the supposed victims fall into one of three categories: 1) they never existed, 2) there is no evidence they ever owned the diamond or 3) there is no evidence they died in the way described by the "curse". The earliest mention of the curse is from a newspaper in New Zealand in 1888. It's likely that this is where the story started. The diamond is currently being housed in the Smithsonian which, so far, has not encountered any ill fortune.
See also:
More mysteries
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