From the moment the first gem crystal was discovered glinting in a riverbed, or a pearl was scooped out of an oyster intended for dinner, precious gems have been the object of man’s (and woman’s) desire and myth. The Romans thought diamonds repelled poison, while the medieval English thought them poisonous. Amethysts were believed to ward off drunkenness, and pearls to bring tears to your lover.
History has provided us with many intriguing stories of famous gems. But none so legendary—and at times, unlucky—as these five.
The Hope Diamond
Photo source: Si.edu/Encyclopedia
Rumored to have been stolen from the eye of an Indian idol, the Hope Diamond—a rare blue diamond weighing 44.52 carats—was sold to Louis XIV of France in 1668. Louis had the large blue diamond cut to 67 carats and it became part of the French crown jewels. (You wore it well, Marie Antoinette.)
It disappeared for about twenty years after being stolen during the revolution. It surfaced, re-cut, in London during the Napoleonic wars, and was eventually sold to British banker Henry Hope. The diamond took the Hope name and descended through several generations of the Hope family, until gambling debts forced its sale in 1901.
French jeweler Cartier acquired the diamond and sold it to the American heiress, Evalyn Walsh McLean, in 1911. Evalyn thought the diamond brought her good luck and wore it until her death. During that time a son died in a car crash, her husband became insane and was institutionalized, and a young daughter committed suicide. I wonder what she considered bad luck?
At her death, the Hope diamond was sold to satisfy Evalyn’s debts. Harry Winston bought the stone in 1949 and exhibited it worldwide for almost ten years. Winston donated the gem to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958, where it is still on display, not having brought disaster to the nation … unless you count our current administration.
The Koh-i-Noor Diamond
Photo source: Royal.gov.uk
Legend has it that the Koh-i-Noor (“Mountain of Light”) was stolen from the god Krishna while he slept. It appears in Mogul chronicles as part of captured treasure in 1304 and remained with the Mogul emperors until 1739, when Delhi was sacked by the Persians. The Mogul emperor tried to hide the diamond by concealing it in his turban, but a member of his harem tipped off the Persian Nadir Shah, who ended up with both the turban and the diamond. When Nadir unwrapped the turban, he exclaimed, “Koh-i-Noor,” thus giving the diamond its current name. History does not record the fate of the turban … or the harem tattler.
The Koh-i-Noor remained with the Persian kings, despite many bloody attempts to steal it. In 1849, it was handed over to the British East India Company as part of the settlement imposed on the Punjab after the Sikh wars.
When the stone reached Queen Victoria, it had the reputation of bringing bad luck to its male owners but, luckily for her, not to females. Victoria had it cut from 186 carats to its current 109 carats and set in a tiara. Since 1911, the stone has been placed in coronation crowns of the Queen Consorts, thus averting any possible bad luck.
Controversy continues to follow the diamond. Pakistan, India, Iran, and the Taliban have all requested the return of the diamond but have been denied, politely. The Koh-i-Noor remains on display in the Tower of London with the rest of the Crown Jewels, awaiting Camilla’s big day.
Black Prince’s Ruby
Photo source: Ruby-Sapphire.com
The Black Prince’s Ruby is actually a 170-carat rough-cut spinel (a hard crystalline mineral that varies from colorless to ruby red to black and is used as a gem). The ruby made its appearance in 1367 when King Pedro “The Cruel of Castile” murdered its owner. Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince because of his black armor) rescued Pedro from his enemies and received the ruby as payment.
The Black Prince took the ruby to England where it has since remained. It adorned Henry V’s jewel-encrusted helmet at the battle of Agincourt (amazing what they wore to war back then) and both Henry VII and his daughter, Elizabeth I, counted it as a prize possession.
The ruby survived the dismantling and sale of the crown jewels by Oliver Cromwell following the execution of Charles I. The infamous Colonel James Blood tried to steal the Crown Jewels in 1671 from the Tower. Blood got caught, but managed to charm his way out of execution. It seems Charles II had quite a sense of humor and granted Blood lands in Ireland, thereby placing the Irish Channel between Blood and the ruby.
The Black Prince’s Ruby is now set in the Imperial State Crown, which is worn by the monarch at the Coronation and the Opening of Parliament each year. It remains on display at the Tower of London, with better security than it had in 1671.
The Delhi Purple Sapphire
Photo source: Natural History Museum
The story of the Delhi Purple Sapphire was virtually unknown until shortly before the reopening of the mineral gallery in London’s Natural History Museum in 2007.
Donated to the museum after the death of author and scholar Edward Heron-Allen in 1943, the “sapphire” is actually an amethyst, set in a rather ugly silver bezel with two carved amethyst scarabs set on one side and a tarnished silver fob on the other.
Thought to have been looted from the Temple of Indra (the Hindu god of war and weather) during the bloody Indian Mutiny of 1857, the stone was brought to England by Colonel W. Ferris. The Ferris family was plagued with financial and health woes and a family friend committed suicide while they had possession of the stone.
Heron-Allen acquired the gem in 1890, but came to believe it was “trebly accursed,” as bad luck followed the stone everywhere. Fourteen years later, Heron-Allen sealed the stone in a box, with a note recounting its history and a recommendation that it be thrown into the sea. He sent it to his solicitors with instructions to donate the gem to the Natural History Museum after his death.
In 2004, the sapphire was lent by the museum to the Heron-Allen Society for their first symposium and the trip was accompanied by a huge thunderstorm—very fitting for a gem stolen from a god of weather!
The sapphire is on display at the Vault in the Natural History Museum. No indoor thunderstorms have been reported.
La Peregrina Pearl
Photo source: Gia.edu
Discovered in the 16th century, La Peregrina (The Pilgrim) is a huge (203. 84 grains) natural pear-shaped pearl. It first came to history’s notice when Phillip II of Spain gave it to Mary Tudor, Queen of England, on their wedding in 1554. Mary fell immediately in love with Phillip but he found her unattractive and malodorous and departed for an extended trip to Spain as soon as he could. Mary died in 1558, and Phillip married twice more, to wives destined for his mentally and physically disabled heir, Carlos. La Peregrina stayed with the family until the Spanish Hapsburg dynasty collapsed in 1700, a victim of generations of inbreeding.
In 1969, La Peregrina was purchased for Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton. Their second marriage ended in 1976, but Taylor retains ownership of the pearl, which is set as the drop in a magnificent necklace of pearls and rubies.
La Peregrina may not be horribly unlucky, but I can’t say I’d want it as a wedding present.
Can a gem can actually carry a curse? Probably not. We humans are a covetous bunch, so if we can exchange blows over a few semi-precious stones from Granny’s collection of garnet brooches, it’s not a stretch to imagine the blood and violence created by our desire to possess something as rare as a huge diamond.