The legend of the Hope diamond
A legendary diamond could only be the star of a... legend! Let’s discover together all the details about the legend of the Hope diamond.
What diamond is it?
The Hope diamond, also called the Blue of France, is famous for its incredible weight (45.53 carats) and its value (250 million dollars!). Its extremely rare colour certainly helped make it perhaps the most famous diamond ever. Today, the Hope is kept at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, after a truly fascinating life.
Yet, its fame does not come only from these important features. The legend tells, in fact, that the Hope was a cursed stone.
Hope: a cursed stone
It seems that the Hope diamond comes from the Golconda mines in India, where it was bought at the end of the 1600s by the merchant Jean Tavernier. However, Tavernier is said to have taken it from the eye of an Indian statue, depicting the idol Rama Sitra. The wrath of the deity would therefore be the cause of all the curses the stone carries with it.
Jumping forward in time, we know that Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, owned this splendid jewel, as shown by a painting depicting her with the Hope around her neck. Given to her by the King, who in turn obtained it from Tavernier, it seems that all ended in misfortune and misery, beheaded or driven mad.
After Marie Antoinette, it passed from hand to hand among bankers, traders, and nobles, ending up, in 1900, in the hands of the American jeweller Harry Winston, who donated it to the Smithsonian, where it is today. All the people who owned the stone for some time experienced incredible misfortunes.
However, it seems that many of the misfortunes experienced by the owners of the Hope were actually quite typical for their times, not at all rare.
Red as blood
Another reason that makes the Hope a diamond considered cursed is precisely its colour: it seems that, under certain lighting conditions, it turns blood red, emitting its own light. The Smithsonian, in recent years, has not stopped studying this very special gem, noting how ultraviolet light can cause it to fluoresce. Once the ultraviolet lamp is turned off, the red glow appears, lasting over time. The diamond, therefore, would be phosphorescent, following electronic excitation.
Nothing supernatural, but a simple chemical phenomenon, at least according to science. In short, a fascinating legend that enchants many and makes the Hope a diamond truly to remember.
