The Hope Diamond: a jewel as beautiful as lethal

Beautiful as few and deadly! The black legend involves a jewel that is now well guarded in a museum, and it seems the safest place, not only because of its value, but because those who were its owners (or at least a good part of them) had an unhappy life, a premature death or A dramatic ending.What gem are we talking about? Of the Hope diamond, a spectacular stone, beautiful as few and with a terrible curse that we are going to reveal to you.Don't miss it!

The Hope diamond, a damn jewel

Of a magnetic bluish color, 45 carats (although it was much older centuries ago) and an amazing perfection, the origin of this diamond is uncertain.Legend has it that adorned an image of the goddess Sita in India and that a priest robbed her .That is the beginning of the curse of the stone, since the thief suffered a slow torture as punishment until he died.

It is in the 17th century when the diamond arrives in Europe from the hand of a merchant of doubtful reputation, Jean Baptista Tavernier .A little hard on his hands, since he sold it to Louis XIV for an exorbitant sum of money. I just in the ruin and fled to Russia, where he died after being attacked by a jauria of wild dogs.

Let's go back to the diamond. Louis XIV reduced it from 112 carats to 67 , by giving him a heart-shaped carving.And coincidence or not, his family dwindled almost as much as the jewel.Good part of his many children (legitimate or not) did not even reach adolescence.And he, although older, would die almost of fulminating way by a gangrene.

Years later, Louis XVI gave the jewel to his wife, Maria Antonieta .And his tragic end of all is known.It was the guillotine that I just finished with their lives, although there are those who believe that the curse was planned on their heads long before the beginning of the French Revolution.During those events, another member of the royal family, the princess of Lamballe (to whom Marie Antoinette had lent the diamond), also passed away in a shocking way, beaten by a crowd.

The Hope Diamond: a jewel as beautiful as lethal

Maria Antonieta

During that time the jewel was convulsed it was stolen and the track was lost , but when he heard about her again, misfortunes would return.He appeared in the hands of a Dutch jeweler, Wilhem Fals , who would give him the form he has today and was killed by his son , who stole the diamond and, by the way, ended up committing suicide.

Later would be bought by banker Henry Thomas Hope .He would give it the name by which Today we know her and she would be saved from the curse, although not her heirs.In the following years, already in the twentieth century, the jewel would pass through several hands and the misfortunes would be happening one after the other.Prince Ivan Kanitowski gave it to him to a mistress, whom soon after he murdered...of course he suffered the same fate in the hands of the Russian revolutionaries.Another owner, Habib Bey, drowned with all his fa Milia and Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid II would be overthrown.Qualities?

The Hope Diamond: a jewel as beautiful as lethal

Evelyn Walsh

Despite the reputation that the diamond already had, it came to the McLean family , who would suffer the curse in a terrible way.The head of the family died alcoholic and almost ruined in a psychiatric hospital, but before he had seen how his 8-year-old son suffered a fatal outrage, the misfortunes did not end there, his daughter died due to an overdose of sleeping pills.

The last owner of the Hope diamond would be the jeweler Harry Winston, he was the one who donated it to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington .And it is in that place where it has been exhibited since the end of the 50s, perfectly protected Fortunately, it seems that was the end of the curse.

The Hope Diamond: a jewel as beautiful as lethal

Don't you think it's a story amazing? Some people believe that the misfortunes of those who owned the Hope diamond are no more than coincidences, but it is also true that, despite its incalculable value, surely more than one person would not want or give it away for fear of being one more victim of his black legend.And if you are one of those who believe in the curses, then, also, do not even think about stepping on the Greystone Mansion.

Images: David Bjorgen, 350z33, George Martin.

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