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CASE #HMRGNC · 2 entities · 1 connections
The Curse of the Hope Diamond
One of the world's most famous gemstones has been blamed for beheadings, suicides, and bankruptcies across three centuries of owners — and the jeweler who popularized the curse to sell it may have simply been a very good salesman.
The Hope Diamond, a large blue diamond with a documented ownership history stretching back to 17th-century France, has long been associated with a supposed curse bringing misfortune, financial ruin, or death to its owners. Historical research has found the curse narrative was substantially popularized and embellished by jeweler Pierre Cartier in the early 20th century, likely as a deliberate sales technique to increase the stone's mystique and value.
⇄disputed
Quick facts
- →The diamond's documented ownership history traces back to French merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who reportedly acquired a large blue diamond in India in the 17th century.
- →The stone passed through French royal ownership, was stolen during the French Revolution, and later resurfaced and was eventually cut down and sold to various private owners, including banker Henry Philip Hope, from whom its modern name derives.
- →Jeweler Pierre Cartier significantly popularized and embellished the curse narrative in the early 20th century while selling the stone to its final major private owner, Evalyn Walsh McLean.
- →The diamond has been housed at the Smithsonian Institution since 1958, donated by jeweler Harry Winston, without any documented curse-related incident affecting the museum or its staff during that period.
Entities on file
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Hope Diamond (artwork)
Famous blue diamond associated with a popular curse legend, substantially popularized by jeweler Pierre Cartier's early 20th-century sales promotion.
No outgoing connections on file.
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Pierre Cartier (person)
Jeweler who significantly popularized and embellished the Hope Diamond's curse narrative in the early 20th century while selling the stone.
→ popularized the curse narrative of → Hope Diamond✓documented