The Hope Diamond, a fabulous cursed treasure?

First discovered in India in 1673 by the French explorer and merchant who initially named it, the diamond now known as Hope originally weighed 115 carats and boasted a striking blue hue. It has passed through the centuries, handed down from one owner to the next, often leaving misfortune in its wake. Among its most illustrious owners were King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. This mysterious diamond was stolen and then recut, and its story took a new turn in 1839, when Henry Philip Hope acquired it and gave it his name. But the stone did not spare the Hope family: after Henry's premature death, his heirs, cornered by gambling debts, were forced to sell the jewel. The jeweler Wilhelm Fals got his hands on the diamond, but tragedy struck again: his own son murdered him to seize the stone, before taking his own life. Yet, this did not deter the wealthy American heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean, who purchased the diamond despite the warnings. /public-objects/a0020980-5eaf-479c-a432-b2ffeb1a2ea8-e6f5a465-c7ad-466b-9cbc-3cd8c64ae678-The%20Hope%20Diamond%20-%20Credit%20Chip%20Clark%20Smithsonian%C3%A2%C2%80%C2%99s%20National%20Museum%20of%20Natural%20History%20(digitally%20modified%20by%20SquareMoose).webp Image sélectionnée Tragedy quickly ensued: the death of her son at the age of nine, followed by that of her daughter at 25. As for her husband, he descended into madness after leaving her. Upon Evalyn's death, her descendants sold the stone to Harry Winston. The renowned jeweler took it on a journey across the United States, showcasing it to the public before making an unexpected decision: he donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Museum. In a curious twist, he sent it by regular mail, with postage of only $2.44. Did the New York house have a premonition that it was better to part with it?