Sparkling Tales, Deadly Gems (Part I)
While the jewels were in the Garde-Meuble, they were not guarded well. For four days the Garde-Meuble was robbed many times; most of the stolen crown jewels were recovered, but not the blue diamond.
It wasn't until 1813 that a stone assumed to be the famous blue diamond resurfaced in London, but this diamond had a different cut. Because of the rarity and perfection of both the French blue diamond and the one in London, it was believed the two stones were one in the same. The new cut, which brought the diamond down to 45.52 carats (not the 44 carats previously believed), was probably done to disguise it.
The diamond changed hands twice until about 1839, when it was bought by fine art and gem collector Henry Philip Hope, the man from whom the stone got its current name.
The bankruptcy of the wealthy Hope family was, naturally, blamed upon the curse of the Hope Diamond. But records show that the diamond traveled (by inheritance) uneventfully through three generations of Hopes, with no evidence of the curse. Financial problems only occurred with its last owner, Lord Francis Hope, due to his high gambling and spending debts. He tried to obtain permission from the House of Lords to sell the diamond, but his requests were repeatedly denied. Finally, in 1901, against the protests of his siblings, the House of Lords consented and the diamond was sold. However, for three generations the Hope family was unaffected by the curse. It was obviously Lord Francis's lifestyle that caused bankruptcy rather than the stone.
American jeweler Simon Frankel was the buyer of the Hope Diamond in 1901 who brought the stone to America, after which it was sold several times until it became the property of Pierre Cartier. Cartier knew that the wealthy and eccentric Evalyn Walsh McLean felt that bad luck objects became good luck in her possession, so he emphasized the Hope Diamond's negative history. Many people believe that Cartier invented the story of the curse since research shows that the idea of a curse upon the diamond didn't even appear until the 20th century.
Once Cartier reset the diamond, McLean bought it and wore it constantly. One story tells that Mrs. McLean's doctor had to plead with her to remove the necklace before goiter surgery.
But tragedy soon struck the McLean family. Mrs. McLean's nine year old son, Vinson, died in a car accident; her daughter committed suicide
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