The history of the HOPE DIAMOND | Is the Hope Diamond really cursed? Most famous jewel in the world?

The history of the HOPE DIAMOND is one of mystery, intrigue and tragedy. Sometimes called the most famous jewel in the world, a question often asked about this most beautiful blue diamond is ‘is the Hope Diamond really cursed?’ Whether it is or it isn’t is an issue which has intrigued its long list of owners and viewers for decades, even centuries. In this video from History Calling, we examine what is perhaps the most famous diamond in the world, tracking its known history, from its beginnings (in human hands at least) in seventeenth-century India with the French merchant traveller, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, who called it the Tavernier Blue, to its time with the French royal family, when it was known as the French Blue and used as part of the Order of the Golden Fleece. We’ll then discuss its disappearance in 1792 during the French Revolution and its reappearance (in cut-down form) in England in 1812 in the possession of Daniel Eliason, where it eventually became known as the Hope Diamond after coming into the ownership of Henry Philip Hope who died in 1839 (indeed, this is how the Hope Diamond got its name). Its list of owners reads like a who’s who of history and includes Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France, Pierre Cartier, Evalyn Walsh McLean, Harry Winston and possibly King George IV of Great Britain. If you’re wondering where is the Hope Diamond now, the answer is that since 1958 it has resided in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. As well as its official history, this video will look at the sometimes grisly and tragic events which happened to it owners and/or their families to explain the origins of the curse of the Hope Diamond and show why it is likely more of a marketing ploy, than anything its owners really need to be concerned about. It will also use science to explain why the Hope Diamond is blue and why it glows red under shortwave, ultraviolet light.

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LEARN MORE:

Richard Kurin, Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem (2017) available at https://amzn.to/3p6MMEJ (UK link) OR https://amzn.to/3BO2zMr (US link)

Jack Ogden, ‘Out of the Blue: The Hope Diamond in London’ in Journal of Gemology, 36:4 (2018), pp 316-31.

Jeffrey E. Post & François Farges, ‘The Hope Diamond: Rare Gem, Historic Jewel’ in Rocks & Minerals, vol. 89, no. 1 (2014), pp 16-26.

John S. White, ‘Let's Get it Right: The Hope Diamond Weighs 45.52 Carats!’ in Rocks & Minerals, vol. 77, no. 3 (2002), p. 191.

The History and Curse of the Hope Diamond. Talk given by Richard Kurin at the Library of Congress in 2007. Freely available at https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-4227/

THUMBNAIL: Hope Diamond, Flickr, Ruby Grace Reyes, CC BY 2.0 (detail). Marie Antoinette: Rijks Museum, public domain (detail)

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