• Diamonds
  • Gemstones
  • Jewellery
  • Famous Jewels
  • Latest
Diamond Buzz Logo
The Hope Diamond – A Curse Of Debt
Famous Jewels

The Hope Diamond – A Curse of Debt

Last updated on December 26, 2022

Diamonds have attracted mankind for centuries, and it is not surprising that some of them are surrounded by numerous evil stories. One of the most spectacular gemstones in the world is the Hope Diamond, a beautiful blue gemstone infamous for attracting bad luck to its owners.

The Hope Diamond and The French Royal Treasury

Tavernier Blue Diamond Drawing | Diamond Buzz
Drawing of the Tavernier Blue Diamond, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Hope Diamond is believed to be mined from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India. Its history traces back to the 17th century when the crudely cut diamond was first purchased in its original triangular shape and weight of 112.19 carats by a French merchant traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and was named “Tavernier Blue” after its first owner.

In 1668, Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, together with 14 other large diamonds and several small stones. The diamond was recut and yielded by the court jeweller Sieur Pitau, resulting in a 67.12-carat stone. In the royal records, the colour of the diamond was described as an intense steely blue and became known as the “Blue Diamond of the Crown” or the “French Blue”. The blue diamond was set in gold and suspended on a neck ribbon, which King Louis XIV wore on ceremonial occasions.

Later in 1749, the stone was reset by court jeweller Andre Jacquemin in a piece of ceremonial jewellery for the Order of the Golden Fleece by order of King Louis XV.

In 1791, after King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette’s attempt to flee France, all the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were passed to the government, and during the week-long looting of the crown jewels, the blue diamond, along with other famous gems, such as the Sancy Diamond, was stolen in September 1792.

The Hope Diamond and a Curse of Debt

Evalyn Walsh Mclean Wearing The Hope Diamond | Diamond Buzz
Evalyn Walsh McLean wearing the Hope Diamond, Harris & Ewing, photographer, Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

After being stolen during the French revolution the Hope Diamond surfaced in London in 1812 as a smaller recut gem. The blue diamond was documented as being in the possession of a London diamond merchant, Daniel Eliason. According to some references, the French Blue was owned by King George IV but was sold through private channels to settle his enormous debts after his death in 1830.

The next reference to the diamond’s owner is found in the 1839 entry of Henry Philip Hope’s gem collection catalogue, from whom the stone takes its name. Following the death of H. P. Hope in 1839, the mysterious diamond was passed down to his nephew Henry Thomas Hope and then to the nephew’s grandson Lord Francis Hope who was forced to sell it in 1901 to pay off his debts.

The diamond was sold to a London dealer Adolf Weil, who quickly resold it to Joseph Frankel’s Sons & Co. of New York, who, in turn, retained the stone until they needed cash. The Hope Diamond was sold to Selim Habib, who put it up for auction in 1909. Although the diamond was not bought at the auction, it was sold soon after to C.H. Rosenau and then resold to Pierre Cartier the same year.

In 1910 the Hope Diamond was shown to an American mining heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean at Cartier’s in Paris. To make the sale, Cartier had to reset the diamond into a headpiece on a three-tiered circle of large white diamonds as McLean did not like the initial setting. Later it became a pendant on a diamond necklace as we know it today. After purchasing the Hope, McLean had many misfortunes: her son died in a car accident, her daughter died of a drug overdose, her husband passed away, and the family was forced to sell their newspaper, the Washington Post, after their bankruptcy.

The Hope Diamond’s New Home

The Hope Diamond In Its Setting | Diamond Buzz
The Hope Diamond in its setting, Jyothis at Malayalam Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons

On November 10, 1958, Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, where it remained in the permanent exhibition and was lent only four times.

For many years the weight of the Hope Diamond was reported to be 44.50 carats. However, in 1974 it was removed from its setting and found to weigh 45.52 carats. The dark grey-blue gem was classified as a Type IIb diamond, which is usually phosphorescence. It also glows a strong red colour under ultraviolet light. The diamond’s extraordinary colour is caused by the mineral boron. While most natural blue diamonds contain tiny particles of boron, usually less than 0.5 parts per million (ppm), the Hope Diamond has as many as 8 ppm.

The Hope Diamond curse story is more of a morality fable about the cardinal sin of greed since nearly everyone has something bad or tragic happen to them. According to the legend, the diamond sparkled in the brow of an Indian temple until it was plucked out by a thief, whose punishment for this act was a slow and agonizing death. It was believed that only a person with a pure heart could escape the same fate. In this case, a “pure heart” meant someone who did not try to sell the gem but instead gave it away. Thus the curse ended when Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the National Museum of Natural History.

Featured image: 350z33, CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons. A derivative work by Diamond Buzz.
FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedIn

Post navigation

How to Buy Diamond Rings Online
Diamond Fluorescence: Is It Good or Bad?
  • Expert Guide To Choosing An Anniversary Ring | Diamond BuzzExpert Guide to Choosing an Anniversary Ring
    Jewellery

Advertise on Diamond Buzz

We help our clients with the best and most effective advertising solutions by creating engagement for jewellery brands across the Diamond Buzz audience.

Newsletter

By entering your email address, you consent to receive our latest news and exclusive offers. You may withdraw your consent at any time. Please read our Privacy Policy for more details.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

  • Contact
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookie Settings
  • Instagram
Copyright © 2018 - 2023 Diamond Buzz. All Rights Reserved.
Cressida Pro by LyraThemes.com

We use cookies on our website to personalise your user experience and analyse our website traffic. By clicking "Accept All", you consent to the use of all the cookies.

Privacy Policy    Settings    Accept All

Cookie Settings

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are essential for the website to function properly. This category includes cookies that ensure the basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website, which help in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_SGEW9HERE92 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analysed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo