Hyderabad: The Hope diamond, about the size of a walnut, and worth an estimated $340 million is one of the most valuable diamonds ever found. It’s currently housed at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C — the trademark blue is due to trace amounts of boron.
The gem is also supposedly cursed. Many owners reportedly died violent, excruciatingly painful deaths. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette once owned the diamond (historians claim) and Antoinette’s death during the French revolution is infamous.
Many victims later, the man who delivered the diamond to the Smithsonian — one James Todd — apparently had his leg crushed in an accident and in a separate accident, his house burned down.
The several ‘curses’ though have been attributed to overzealous journalists.
Some claim, it was just an attempt to boost the gem’s value and maybe to even prevent thefts. Because one of the first ever individuals, who is believed to have kept the diamond for a while — Jean Baptiste-Tavernier — lived till 84, without incident.
