Cisco Trails: The Curse of the Blue Diamond

The Curse of the Blue Diamond

Crystals and gems have been allegedly cursed throughout history. One of the greatest legends is that of the Hope Diamond aka as the French Blue or Blue Diamond, which has to be the world’s most unlucky gemstone. The fabulous color – blue – is because of small amounts of boron within its crystal structure; it also exhibits red phosphorescence after exposure to ultraviolet light.

There are varying accounts of the diamond and the curse but here is my favorite:

Legend has it that a French trader, Jean-Baptiste Tavenier, stole the diamond (originally 112.5 carats) from the eye of an idol in the Temple of Rama Sitra. The bad luck starts here with Jean-Baptiste going bankrupt, and sailing for India to reclaim his fortune. He died on the ship to India, a pathetic and broken man. Another report claims Jean-Baptiste was torn apart by wolves!

(However, Susanne Patch, author of Blue Mystery: The Story of the Hope Diamond, says that the diamond is unlikely to have ever come from the head of an idol or statue which blows the whole curse theory but I digress….)

Before his death, Jean-Baptiste sold the stone to Louix XIV in 1668. Louis XIV had the diamond cut into a heart shape and let his mistress wear it. His mistress, Madame de Montespan, became embroiled in a rather outrageous scandal. It was alleged that the Madame was somehow involved with some older women who provided Black Magic potions or poisons for disposing of unwanted husbands and lovers. Ouch! Madame de Montespan fell out of the king’s favor as a result of the scandal. The other women involved were tried in court secretly and burned at the stake!

Louis’ descendant, King Louis XV had the jewel reset but it fell into disuse after his death. His grandson, King Louis XVI, let his wife, Marie Antoinette wear it although there is some disagreement about whether she really wore it or not. In any event, both Louis and Marie were beheaded in 1793.

It was believed stolen after that and missing for twenty years.

In 1830 the diamond surfaced again but had been reduced from 112.5 carats to 44.5 carats. Henry Thomas Hope, a banker, purchased the stone for 18,000 pounds. At that point, it became known as the Hope Diamond. Hope and his family survived the diamond – that is, until the popular singer May Yohe, married Lord Francis Hope. The Hopes had marital problems from the beginning and May gave a prophecy that the diamond would bring bad luck to anyone who owned it. May ran off with another man, and died in poverty, always blaming the diamond and never her own poor choices. Lord Francis himself was in a lot of financial trouble as a result of overspending and having a lavish lifestyle and sold the diamond in the early 1900s.

The next owner, Jacques Colot, a French broker went insane and committed suicide. But it is believed he sold it to the Russian Prince Kanitovsi first. The Prince lent it to a French actress at the Folies Bergere who was shot by the Prince himself from his own box the first night she wore it! He didn’t fare so well either as he was shot by revolutionaries.

Simon Mantharides, a Greek jewelry, then bought the diamond and met his demise over the edge of a cliff – accident or homicide?

A Turkish sultan, Abdul Hamid aka Abdul the Damned, bought the gemstone in 1908 and was deposed the following year. But first he went insane!

The next owner Habib Bey, drowned.

An American purchased it next, Edward Beale Maclean, owner of the Washington Post. His mother immediately died thereafter as did two servants in his household. His ten year old son, Vinson, ran out of the house and was hit by a car and killed. Maclean and his wife, Evelyn, separated, he was plagued with scandal, and became an insane alcoholic, committing suicide. Evelyn kept the diamond and dismissed curse stories as bizarre fabrications. However, her daughter committed suicide in 1946. People noted that Evelyn had worn the diamond to the young woman’s wedding. Evelyn died in 1947.

Harry Winston, a New York jeweler, bought all of Evelyn’s jewelry and presented the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1958 where it is still exhibited for the viewing public (Hope Diamond in its new setting – see below).

What a wild story! There are several legends concerning the Hope Diamond, some without any curse mentioned at all.