Famous Cursed Diamonds and Gems: Real or Imagined?

Man has always had a fascination with bright shiny objects from the heat of fire to the malleable metals that fire can make into beautiful jewelry. And with that fascination is the urge to find the biggest and best – such as these six gems and precious stones.

Unfortunately, some believe these famous prizes may carry their own price for ownership. Looking back at the first appearance and their subsequent journeys has put a question in the minds of the superstitious as to whether they are cursed or not. There is some debate to this day. While myth may be debunked by history, the legend, for many of these gems, lives on.

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

There are three diamonds that grace this sextet of possibly deadly jewels: the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, the Hope Diamond and the Black Orlov.

Koh-i-Noor Diamond

The Koh-i-Noor Diamond, though perhaps not the most famous of the six gems, has the most recorded history. According to legend, the "Mountain of Light" was stolen from the god Krishna who was asleep at the time and first appeared in Mogul chronicles as part of captured treasure in 1304 where it remained with the emperors until 1739.

Unfortunately, when Delhi was sacked by the Persians, the Mogul emperor at the time attempted, unsuccessfully thanks to a member of his harem, to hide the diamond in his turban. The Persian Nadir Shah took the turban from the neck up and gave the diamond its name in wonder.

The diamond stayed with the Persians for another 110 years before it was acquired by the British East India Company after the Sikh wars. Fortunately for Queen Victoria, the 186-carat stone seemed to be having more bad luck for men. Since 1911, the now 109 carat stone has been part of the coronation crowns of the Queen consorts, hopefully contradicting any "curse" on the royal males.

^{Koh-i-Noor Diamond info and photo comes from: http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/koh-i-noordiamond.html}

Hope Diamond

Possibly the world’s most well known diamond, the Hope Diamond at one time was reported to have weighed in at more than 112 carats. However, the curse on this rare large blue diamond supposedly began after it was popped out of the eye socket of a statue of the Hindu goddess Sita in India. This allegedly caused the diamond to be cursed and any owner to have either death or misfortune befall them.

Legend and history cross paths for the first time at the acquisition of the diamond. According to historical accounts, French Jeweler Jean Baptiste Tavernier traveled throughout India and purchased the large diamond, which was allegedly dug out of the Kollur mine in Golconda. According to legend, he stole the diamond from the statue and was torn apart by wild dogs in Russia after he sold the jewel.

However, according to historical accounts, Tavernier made his way back to France in 1668 with the diamond where he sold it to King Louis XIV along with a large quantity of other diamonds. After being made a nobleman, Tavernier died at 84 in Russia of unknown causes.

From the more than 112-carat diamond, a new diamond was cut to a little more than 67 carats and dubbed the "Blue Diamond of the Crown." A few generations later, Louis XVI was crowned king with Marie Antoinette at his side. According to legend, Marie Antoinette was beheaded wearing the diamond around her neck.

Shortly after the French Revolution, the Hope Diamond was stolen along with many other crown jewels. The other jewels were recovered, and the Hope Diamond surfaced again in London about 22 years later. By 1823, English jeweler Daniel Eliason owned the gem that was supposedly once the "Blue Diamond of the Crown."

According to historical accounts, the diamond that Eliason owned was the French royals’ diamond re-cut to 44 carats to hide its origins. And years later, it was once again in royal hands, those of King George IV, when he purchased it from Eliason. It was subsequently sold to pay off debts. The legend continued to grow from there.

Henry Philip Hope was soon in possession of the diamond, which took his family name. However, the curse supposedly hit many members of his family causing the family to become bankrupt. But according to historical accounts, it was gambling and Francis Hope’s own misfortunes that caused the family’s bankruptcy. Francis, the great grand nephew of Henry, sold the diamond in 1901.

The Hope Diamond was purchased by Simon Frankel, an American jeweler, but wound up in Frenchman Pierre Cartier’s hands years later. Cartier knew of a rich American, Evalyn Walsh McLean, who told him that objects usually considered bad luck turned into good luck for her. After the jewel was once again reset, McLean purchased the diamond.

However, it may not have been such good luck for her. Her first son, Vinson, was killed in a car accident at 9; her daughter committed suicide at 25; and McLean’s husband was declared insane and confined until he died in 1941.

After her death, the diamond was sold once again in 1949 to settle debts, this time to by Harry Winston, a New York jeweler. Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institute in 1958. Some people believe it was to avert the curse; others say it was because Winston wanted the rare blue diamond to be the focal point of a newly established gem collection.

^{Hope Diamond info and photo comes from: http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/hope.htm}

Black Orlov

The last of our trio of "cursed" diamonds is the Black Orlov. Known as "the Eye of Brahma," this black diamond was discovered in India in the early 1800’s. According to legend and like the first two diamonds, the 195-carat Black Orlov was allegedly found in a Hindu idol at a shrine near Pondicherry, India, where it was stolen by a Hindu monk. This action supposedly summoned a malicious spirit to embrace the Eye and the Eye’s owners.

The "cursed" jewel took its name from Princess Nadia Vyegin-Orlov in the late 1800’s. Coincidentally, the diamond was named the Black Orlov because of its “natural fancy black” color but also to differentiate it from the Orlov Diamond, a 189.6 carat white diamond with its own storied past.

According to an Associated Press article, Orlov leapt from a building in an apparent suicide in Rome, Italy, on Dec. 2, 1947, after fleeing during the Russian Revolution and selling her family jewels.

Russian Princess Leonila Galitsine-Bariatinsky also previously owned the Black Orlov. In a disturbing coincidence in November 1947, Galitsine-Bariatinsky also committed suicide by leaping from a building.

Some fifteen years earlier, J.W. Paris imported the Black Orlov into the United States and after securing the sale of the diamond also leapt to his death on April 7, 1932. After the two Russian princesses committed suicide, supposedly the curse was broken when Charles S. Winson, another jeweler in New York, purchased the Black Orlov on Friday, May 13, 1949.

^{Black Orlov info and photo comes from: http://www.diamondsnews.com/black_diamond.htm}

MORE SACRILIGIOUS GEMS

Delhi Purple Sapphire

The Delhi Purple Sapphire was "trebly accursed and is stained with the blood, and the dishonor of everyone who has ever owned it," according to Edward Heron-Allen, a scientist, friend of Oscar Wilde and the last owner of the jewel.

The Delhi Purple Sapphire, actually an amethyst, was willed to the London Natural History Museum in 1943 by Heron-Allen. Supposedly he was so concerned about the curse of bad luck and tragedy surrounding the gem that he sealed it with protective charms in seven boxes.

Heron-Allen’s last words on the jewel: "Whoever shall then open it, shall first read out this warning, and then do as he pleases with the jewel. My advice to him or her is to cast it into the sea." The sapphire was only discovered again more than three decades ago though the discovery was kept quiet due to the supposed curse. Supposedly Heron-Allen, a scholar in his own right, knew what he was talking about. His descendants would never touch the jewel and knew well the story of the cursed amethyst.

According to the Heron-Allen family, the Delhi Purple Sapphire had been brought to the United Kingdom by a Bengal cavalryman Colonel W. Ferris. He had recovered the amethyst in India, after it had been looted from the Temple of Indra in Cawnpore during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Ferris and his son both lost all their money and their health after owning the jewel. A family friend committed suicide after possessing it for a short time.

Heron-Allen took possession of the amethyst in 1890 when he was immediately struck with bad luck and misfortune. He gave the jewel away twice – both friends were consequently fraught with disasters.

Supposedly he tried to throw the amethyst into the Regent’s Canal to be rid of the cursed jewel. The Delhi Purple Sapphire was returned to him after three months by a jeweler who purchased it from a dredger.

By 1904, he had it locked away until after his death. However, even after the amethyst passed into the hands of the museum, it is still exerting a baleful presence on any that touched the jewel.

John Whittaker, the museum’s former head of micropaleontology, took the amethyst to the first symposium of the Heron-Allen Society. He encountered the most horrific thunderstorm he had ever experienced on the way home. The night before the second annual symposium he became violently ill with stomach flu and he didn’t make the third symposium due to a sudden kidney stone.

_{Delhi Purple Sapphire info and photo comes from: http://cruelkev3.blogspot.com/2007/11/cursed-delhi-purple-sapphire-goes-on.html}

Black Prince's Ruby

From the color of royalty to the color of revenge, the Black Prince’s Ruby also has a storied past. The 170-carat rough-cut spinel made its first appearance in 1367 when Don Pedro "The Cruel," King of Castile, murdered the ruby’s owner. Needing rescue from his enemies at the Battle of Nagera, Pedro gave the ruby to Edward, Prince of Wales, as payment for Edward’s help.

The cursed jewel was then worn into battle by Henry V in his coroneted helmet at the Battle of Agincourt. While the crown was mangled, good luck was with Henry and his encounter with the Duc d’Alencon.

Three centuries after it was acquired by Pedro and King Charles I’s execution, the ruby was wrapped in plain paper and sold for £4. Some three centuries later, it was then given back to the British Monarchy where the Black Prince’s Ruby is the giant ruby set on the front cross pattée of the British Imperial State Crown.

_{Black Prince's Ruby info and photo comes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Prince%27s_Ruby | Photo © HMSO, London}


THE MOTHER OF ALL PEARLS

The La Peregrina Pearl

The La Peregrina Pearl is a more than 200 grains natural pear-shaped pearl currently owned by Elizabeth Taylor. A slave supposedly found “The Pilgrim” in the early 1500s in the Gulf of Panama.

In 1554, Prince Phillip II of Spain gave it to Mary Tudor, Queen of England, at their wedding. However, while she was enamored of the Spaniard, he was less than enthused about her or her looks and left for an extended trip to his motherland. She died four years later and the pearl went back to Phillip who went on to create an incestuous clan. La Peregrina stayed with Phillip’s heirs until the Spanish Hapsburg dynasty collapsed in 1700, a victim of generations of inbreeding.

Perhaps not the most cursed on the list, this mother of all pearls should have imparted a little wisdom instead of dumb lust to Phillip and his heirs.

^{La Peregrina Pearl info and photo comes from: http://www.karipearls.com/la-peregrina.html}

Truly Cursed?

It's impossible to say whether any of these gems are really cursed, or whether their owners have simply met with a series of unfortunate accidents, some possibly brought on by the belief that the gems actually were cursed, a case of self-fulfilling prophecy.  The only thing that can be known is that while these gems are beautiful to behold, their histories indicate that being associated with them can be hazardous to one's health, and should inspire anyone thinking of acquiring them to think twice before doing so.