[Music]
the king's jewel
the blue of france these are some
nicknames for the most mysterious and
seemingly
dangerous gem in history the selected
few
who were lucky enough to possess the
famous hope diamond
died horrific deaths but in the
beginning
nobody could foresee the trouble the
gemstone
which is now called the hope diamond was
formed deep within the earth more than
one billion years ago
according to carl shuker british
cryptozoologist
and author of the book the unexplained
the diamond was originally used as one
of the decorations of an
indian temple idol but one day a hindu
priest decided it was
far too beautiful and valuable to leave
there and plucked it out
he was severely punished of course but
the hope diamond was already out of the
temple
and in the hands of a famous french
merchant jean baptista tavernier
and here's where the story becomes a
little blurry
some say that tavernier stole the
diamond from the previous owner
while others are sure he bought it rumor
also has it that tavernier had a serious
raging
fever not long after he got the
marvelous hope diamond
one thing is for sure he quickly sold it
to king louis xiv of france
along with a couple of other goodies
king louis xiv
decided to change the famous diamond a
bit and asked his jeweler to make it
triangular
and set it in gold after two years of
work
the hope diamond was ready the king
usually wore it on his neck for
ceremonial occasions
the diamond quickly caught everyone's
attention and got nicknamed the blue
diamond of the crown
and french blue however the hope diamond
curse got to king louis xiv as well
he died suffering of gangrene moreover
all but one of his children didn't make
it past their childhood
though it wasn't that uncommon those
days
the king's successor king louis xv
ordered the court jeweler to reset the
diamond once again
for the order of the golden fleece then
came
louis xv who according to some sources
often let his wife marie antoinette wear
the beautiful gem
well we all know how that went don't we
both louis xvi and marie antoinette were
executed by
guillotine during the french revolution
ow
the hope diamond was stolen from the
royal storehouse
shortly thereafter a couple of years
passed and the diamond was suddenly
discovered
in england wow how did it get there
several sources confirmed that it was
actually owned by king george iv
of the united kingdom maybe it's just a
coincidence
but this king's life story wasn't that
happy either
he decreased the prestige of the
monarchy and was one of the most
unpopular rulers in the history of the
uk
eventually his unhealthy lifestyle made
him
extremely obese and almost completely
blind from cataracts
he didn't leave any descendants and died
from gastrointestinal bleeding
george iv also left enormous debts so
after his death
the hope diamond was apparently sold
through private channels
the next recorded owner of the
mysterious and terrifying diamond
was rich london banker thomas hope
after his death his brother henry
phillip hope got the diamond
and even put it in his gem collection
catalog in 1839
however henry died that same year
that raised only one question who gets
his large and spectacular gem collection
now
henry's nephews thomas's sons and his
wife spent
10 years in court battling for their
rights to own the collection
but in the end it got split up the happy
owner was henry's oldest nephew
henry thomas hope surprisingly the
diamond stayed in the family for many
years
hence its most commonly used name but in
1902
it was sold once again to a london jewel
merchant
after that the hope diamond changed
owners many times
one of them was the last turkish sultan
abdul hamid ii
shortly after he bought the diamond his
life was completely
changed by the military revolution of
the young turks
he was deported and spent his last days
in captivity
after this tragic story the hope diamond
was bought by
none other than pierre cartier he reset
the diamond and sold it to the mclean
family if only they knew what was going
to happen
next at first everything was perfectly
fine
evelyn walsh mclean absolutely adored
the hope diamond
and wore it almost every single day
sometimes
she even put it in her dog's collar and
allowed it to wear it
as long as it was in the apartment but
the happiness
didn't last long first evelyn's
mother-in-law
died then her nine-year-old son was in a
car accident
and didn't make it this broke her and
her husband so much
that he actually left for another woman
and later died in a mental hospital
at the same time their family business
the mclean family owned the famous
washington post by the way
went bankrupt but the misfortunes didn't
stop there
evelyn's daughter passed away when she
was just 25.
nonetheless evelyn didn't believe in the
hope diamond curse
and the jewel was still kept in the
family then
evelyn died and as the family was
carrying huge debts
the rest of her children had to sell the
diamond to improve their financial
situation
doesn't say here what finally happened
to the dog
undaunted by rumors of the curse famous
american jeweler
harry winston was the next to buy the
diamond
so for the next 10 years or so the hope
diamond was the hot new thing at many
exhibits and charity events held by
harry winston incorporated
however it didn't stay in the company
for long harry winston decided to donate
the diamond to the smithsonian
institute's national museum of natural
history
and believe it or not it's still there
to this day
now the hope diamond weighs a bit over
45 carats
still has its deep greenish blue color
and even produces a dangerous red glow
if you decide to expose it to shortwave
ultraviolet light
why would you do that i don't know
needless to say
it's still worth a crazy amount of money
so if you want to see this legendary
gem with your own two eyes the museum is
always open for visitors
despite the diamond's rich history there
are still
heated debates as to whether it's
actually cursed or not
some people are sure that all the
legends about the jewels cursed origins
were simply created to boost its
popularity
i mean the sales for the hope diamond
were always pretty high
others say that the diamond wasn't
originally stolen from india at all
someone just bought it from there and
hold on to your seat
its natural color was white unless
you hold it to the light then you'll see
beautiful light blue rays
in 1911 the new york times came out with
a whole list of the diamond supposed
victims
the list consisted of about 14 people
who died tragic deaths
not long after possessing or even
holding the hope diamond
still if the curse does exist john
baptista tavernier
king louis xiv pierre cartier and many
others
died at a pretty old age of course
nobody knows what the hope diamond is
all about for sure
but one thing is certain it remains one
of the most popular attractions in the
smithsonian institute's museum
and still catches everyone's attention
so do you know any other items with long
and fascinating histories
let me know down in the comments if you
learned something new today
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