Friday 16 July 2010

THE HOPE DIAMOND

The Hope Diamond is one of the most prestigious diamonds. It is a 44-carat blue diamond owned by Louis XIV of France. It was then stolen and disappeared in the French Revolution.
It changed hands many times for two centuries, eventually falling into the hands of Henry Philip Hope, who was one of the heirs of a British banking firm called Hope&Co.
In 1909 it landed in the hands of Pierre Cartier, the founder of the Cartier jewellery empire.
Now the diamond has a history of being bad luck... the entire Hope family died penny-less, as did another one of its owners, Edward Mclean.
The cutter of the diamond committed suicide after his son stole the diamond in 1830 and an actress was shot on stage on the first time she wore the gem.

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