The Story of the Hope Diamond Which Ruined Its Owners' Lives

[Music] the King's jewel the blue of France these are some nicknames for the most mysterious and seemingly dangerous gem in history the selected few who were lucky enough to possess the famous Hope Diamond died horrific deaths but in the beginning nobody could foresee the trouble the gemstone which is now called the Hope Diamond was formed deep within the earth more than 1 billion years ago according to Carl Shakur British cryptozoologist and author of the book the unexplained the diamond was originally used as one of the decorations of an Indian temple Idol but one day a Hindu priests decided it was far too beautiful and valuable to leave there and plucked it out he was severely punished of course but the Hope Diamond was already out of the temple and in the hands of a famous French merchant Jean Baptiste Tavernier and here's where the story becomes a little blurry some say that tavern EA stole the diamond from the previous owner while others are sure he bought it rumor also has it that tavern EA had a serious raging fever not long after he got the marvellous oak diamond one thing is for sure he quickly sold it to king louis xiv of france along with a couple of other goodies king louie xiv decided to change the famous diamond a bit and asked his jeweler to make it triangular and set it in gold after two years of work the Hope Diamond was ready the king usually wore it on his neck for ceremonial occasions the diamond quickly caught everyone's attention and got nicknamed the Blue Diamond of the crown and French blue however the Hope Diamond curse got to king louis xiv as well he died suffering of gangrene moreover all but one of his children didn't make it past their childhood though it wasn't that uncommon those days the King's successor King Louis the 15th ordered the court jeweler to reset the diamond once again for order of the Golden Fleece then came louis xvi who according to some sources often let his wife Marie Antoinette wear the beautiful gem well we all know how that went don't we both louis xvi and marie antoinette were executed by guillotine during the French Revolution ow the Hope Diamond was stolen from the Royal storehouse shortly thereafter a couple of years passed and the diamond was suddenly discovered in England well how did it get there several sources confirmed that it was actually owned by King George the fourth of the United Kingdom maybe it's just a coincidence but this King's life story wasn't that happy either he decreased the prestige of the monarchy and was one of the most unpopular rulers in the history of the UK eventually his unhealthy lifestyle made him extremely obese and almost completely blind from cataracts he didn't leave any descendants and died from gastrointestinal bleeding George the fourth also left enormous debts so after his death the Hope Diamond was apparently sold through private channels the next recorded owner of the mysterious and terrifying diamond was rich London banker Thomas Hope after his death his brother Henry Philip hope got the diamond and even put it in his gem collection catalog in 1839 however Henry died that same year that raised only one question who gets his large and spectacular gem collection now Andrews nephews Thomas's sons and his wife spent 10 years in court battling for their rights to own the collection but in the end it got split up the happy owner was Henry's oldest nephew Henry Thomas hope surprisingly the diamond stayed in the family for many years hence it's most commonly used name but in 1902 it was sold once again to a London jewel merchant after that the Hope Diamond changed owners many times one of them with the last Turkish sultan abdul hameed the second shortly after he bought the diamond his life was completely changed by the military revolution of the young turks he was deported and spent his last days in captivity after this tragic story the Hope Diamond was bought by none other than Pierre Cartier he reset the diamond and sold it to the McLean family if only they knew what was going to happen next at first everything was perfectly fine Evalyn Walsh McLean absolutely adored the Hope Diamond and wore it almost every single day sometimes she even put it in her dog's collar and allowed it to wear it as long as it was in the apartment what the happiness didn't last long first Evelyn's mother-in-law died then her nine-year-old son was in a car accident and didn't make it this broke her and her husband so much that he actually left for another woman and later died in a mental hospital at the same time their family business the McLean family owned the famous Washington Post by the way went bankrupt but the misfortunes didn't stop there Evelyn's daughter passed away when she was just 25 nonetheless Evelyn didn't believe in the Hope Diamond curse and the jewel was still kept in the family then Evelyn died and as the family was carrying huge debts the rest of her children had to sell the diamond to improve their financial situation hmm doesn't say here what finally happened to the dog undaunted by rumors of the curse famous American jeweler Harry Winston was the next to buy the diamond so for the next 10 years or so the Hope Diamond was the hot new thing at many exhibits and charity events held by Harry Winston incorporated however it didn't stay in the company for long Harry Winston decided to donate the diamond to the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History and believe it or not it's still there to this day now the Hope Diamond weighs a bit over 45 carats still has its deep greenish blue color and even produces a dangerous red glow if you decide to expose it to shortwave ultraviolet light why would you do that I don't know needless to say it's still worth a crazy amount of money so if you want to see this legendary gem with your own two eyes the museum is always open for visitors despite the diamonds rich history there are still heated debates as to whether it's actually cursed or not some people are sure that all the legends about the jewels cursed origins were simply created to boost its popularity I mean the sales for the Hope Diamond were always pretty high others say that the diamond wasn't originally stolen from India at all someone just bought it from there and hold on to your seat its natural color was white unless you hold it to the light then you'll see beautiful like blue rings in 1911 the New York Times came out with a whole list of the diamonds supposed victims the list consisted of about fourteen people who died tragic deaths not long after possessing or even holding the Hope Diamond still if the curse does exist Jean Baptiste Tavernier king Louis the 14th Pierre Cartier and many others died at a pretty old age of course nobody knows what the Hope Diamond is all about for sure but one thing is certain it remains one of the most popular attractions in the Smithsonian Institute's Museum and still catches everyone's attention so do you know any other items with long and fascinating histories let me know down in the comments if you learn something new today and give this video a like and share it with a friend but hey don't go anywhere just yet we have over 2,000 cool videos for you to check out all you have to do is pick the left or right video click on it and enjoy stay on the bright side of life

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 2,552,087

Rating: 4.8641577 out of 5

Keywords: the Hope Diamond, The King's jewel, The blue of France, King Louis XIV, French Blue, Marie Antoinette, King George IV, McLean family, National Museum of Natural History, treasure, works of art, jewelry, jewellery, the unluckiest people, diamond rings, cursed objects, creepy things, cursed diamond, famous diamonds, cursed treasure

Id: uo4RzWdBerY

Length: 8min 31sec (511 seconds)

Published: Tue May 14 2019