Hope of Diamond: A Legend of Mystery and Religious

Hope Dia(1600~1793)

At the beginning of the 17th century,a mysterious French missionary killed the guardian of the hope blue diamond with an ax and took the blue diamond for himself. On the way home, the missionary’s throat was cut, and the blue diamond disappeared mysteriously.

Around 1660,French jeweler Tavernier (Jean-Baptiste Tavernier) purchased a batch of gemstones from local princes and nobles in India. Among them was this precious blue diamond, known at the time as the Tavernier Blue.

In 1668,he returned to France and resold the blue diamond to King Louis XIV of France. Louis XIV ordered the jeweler to cut it into a chicken heart and set it in a gold base. Renamed to the Crown Blue Diamond (Blue Diamond of the Crown). And granted the title of Baron Tavernier immediately. Perhaps under the influence of the “Hope Blue Diamond”, Tavernier’s sons ruined his property, forcing him to go to India to do business again in his old age, and died halfway.

Louis XIV also received the call of bad luck. His son, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson died one after another between 1711 and 1714. Only the great-grandson Louis XV remained on the throne.

After the death of Louis XIV, the “Hope Blue Diamond” was removed from the king’s staff by Princess Beili and refitted on her necklace.

Hope Dia(1792~1896)

In 1792,Princess Beli suffered bad luck and was killed by civilians.

After that, Louis XVI and Queen Mary became the owners of this Diamond. With the outbreak of the French Revolution, Louis XVI and his wife were both sent to the guillotine in 1793.

During the French Revolution in 1792, the French treasury was looted by thieves. The  “Diamond” then disappeared. During this period, Spanish painter Goyer once painted a portrait of Queen Maria Luisa of Spain wearing a gemstone that resembled the missing diamond. Later generations speculate that it may be that the French royalists obtained it abroad and sent it to the Spaniards, or the Spaniards bought it from thieves.

In September 1812,the blue diamond, which had been missing for many years, reappeared in England, and the diamond was cut into its present shape, weighing 45.52 carats. According to historical records, the person who brought this diamond to England was named Hendrick. Then in London, he committed suicide.

In 1839,The owner of the “Hope Blue Diamond”, died. His three nephews fought a ten-year lawsuit over his inheritance. In the end, Henry Hope won the diamond. After his death, his grandson, Duke Francis Hope, acquired the diamond in 1887. Due to the extravagant life of the duke, he soon went bankrupt.

In 1894,Francis Hope married American actress May Yohe and lived off his wife’s salary.

In 1896,Francis went bankrupt and applied for the auction of the Diamond. In 1901, the British House of Lords finally ruled that he could sell the Hope Diamond to a London jeweler for £29,000. Then it was traded to American Simon Frankel.

Hope Dia(1908~1957)

In 1908,Sultan Hamid II of Turkey purchased the Hope Blue Diamond for $400,000. When the businessman who handled the business was out with his wife and children, the car he was driving overturned over the cliff, and the whole family died. In the Turkish court, this Diamond was given to his confidant Zuobid by the Sultan. Not long after, Zuo Bide was executed by the Sultan.

In 1911,Mclean, head of the Washington Post, bought this Diamond for $114,000, and he gave it to his wife Evalyn (Walsh Mclean). Bad luck followed, and in the second year after Mrs. McClane got this Diamond, her son died in a car accident and her daughter died of an overdose of sleeping pills.

After Mrs. McLean died in 1947, jeweler Harry Winston bought her blue diamond “Hope” for $1.1 million in 1949. For the next 10 years, Winston traveled with the diamond at exhibitions around the world, including the 1958 Canadian National Exposition.

In 1957,Winston and the Smith Institute negotiated to give this Diamond to the Institute as a central exhibit in a series of gemstones, comparable to those coronation jewels in the Tower of London, England. The Smith Institute agreed to accept. On November 8, 1958, the blue diamond was put into a goatskin box, wrapped in paper, and sent to the New York General Post Office, with the destination being Washington, USA. Then this blue diamond became the first treasure in the museum, and it was very popular. Winston also became the last owner of this Diamond, and he is also the luckiest owner in 300 years.

Hope Dia(1962~2010)

In 1962,this Diamond was exhibited at the Louvre in Paris, France, for a month, and became the core section of the “Tenth Century French Jewelry” exhibition.

In 1965,it was transported to Johannesburg, South Africa, where it was exhibited at the Rand Easter Exhibition.

In 1984,it was leased to the Harry Winston Company in New York, USA for the company’s 50^th-anniversary celebration.

In 1996,it was again sent to Harry Winston in New York for cleaning and restoration.

In 2010,on the 50th anniversary of the Hope Diamond’s donation to the Smithsonian. This Diamond was displayed in a temporary shape from November 18, 2010, to November 18, 2011, by master craftsmen of Harry Winston. History is known as “embracing hope” (Embracing Hope).

Throughout history, the Hope Diamond has been displaced and changed hands several times. Material things just come and go, and the owners of the Hope Diamond are either rich or prominent. Put on a veil of mystery.