NEWS FROM TRANSYLVANIAN TRILOGY
For a moment, Mica imagined herself going to the Chain Bridge and throwing not just the blue diamond, but all of her diamonds into the river!
“What happened to the Hope diamond?” Magda asked.
“It brought nothing but sorrow to the people who owned it. Tavernier sold it to Louis XlV in 1668. The Sun King died in Versailles from gangrene. The diamond went down the family line to Louis XVI, who gave it to Marie Antoinette to wear around her neck. Legends say it caused the beginning of the French Revolution. Who knows? But history does state that Marie Antoinette finished her life with the guillotine around her neck.
“Then it disappeared for two hundred years and reappeared mysteriously in London in 1830, where it was bought at an auction by Henry Philip Hope, a wealthy banker. Since then, it kept going into different hands, each time causing havoc.
“A Ziegfeld Follies star received the diamond as a present and was afterwards murdered by her lover. Then a Greek bought it and subsequently fell off a cliff with his wife and children. In 1908, it went into the hands of a Turkish collector who soon died in a shipwreck. Next, the diamond went into the hands of the Sultan of Turkey, Selim Habib, but he had to sell it when he found himself in the middle of a revolution and a sword pointed between his eyes.
“Pierre Cartier purchased the gem from the Sultan and sold it to Mr. and Mrs. McClean in 1911, the owners of the Washington Post. But still the blue diamond didn't carry much hope. In 1912, their son was killed by a car. Years later their daughter died of an overdose of sleeping pills. The husband finished his life insane and with cirrhosis of the liver while Mrs. McClean committed suicide after losing her entire fortune.
“In 1949, the Hope diamond was sold to the jeweler, Harry Winston, but no one wanted to buy it from him. They were afraid. People claimed it was cursed. He ended up donating it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. It’s there now.”
“Do you believe these stories?" Mica asked Ben. “Did all of this really happen?”
“Before I started learning about the history of the diamonds, I would have said no; they’re stories, legends,” he answered. “But history is history, and diamonds have strange powers that I never understood until my father starting teaching me how to cut them and understand their stories. And now, I see their stories as real, part of history.”
To Be Continued...
“What happened to the Hope diamond?” Magda asked.
“It brought nothing but sorrow to the people who owned it. Tavernier sold it to Louis XlV in 1668. The Sun King died in Versailles from gangrene. The diamond went down the family line to Louis XVI, who gave it to Marie Antoinette to wear around her neck. Legends say it caused the beginning of the French Revolution. Who knows? But history does state that Marie Antoinette finished her life with the guillotine around her neck.
“Then it disappeared for two hundred years and reappeared mysteriously in London in 1830, where it was bought at an auction by Henry Philip Hope, a wealthy banker. Since then, it kept going into different hands, each time causing havoc.
“A Ziegfeld Follies star received the diamond as a present and was afterwards murdered by her lover. Then a Greek bought it and subsequently fell off a cliff with his wife and children. In 1908, it went into the hands of a Turkish collector who soon died in a shipwreck. Next, the diamond went into the hands of the Sultan of Turkey, Selim Habib, but he had to sell it when he found himself in the middle of a revolution and a sword pointed between his eyes.
“Pierre Cartier purchased the gem from the Sultan and sold it to Mr. and Mrs. McClean in 1911, the owners of the Washington Post. But still the blue diamond didn't carry much hope. In 1912, their son was killed by a car. Years later their daughter died of an overdose of sleeping pills. The husband finished his life insane and with cirrhosis of the liver while Mrs. McClean committed suicide after losing her entire fortune.
“In 1949, the Hope diamond was sold to the jeweler, Harry Winston, but no one wanted to buy it from him. They were afraid. People claimed it was cursed. He ended up donating it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. It’s there now.”
“Do you believe these stories?" Mica asked Ben. “Did all of this really happen?”
“Before I started learning about the history of the diamonds, I would have said no; they’re stories, legends,” he answered. “But history is history, and diamonds have strange powers that I never understood until my father starting teaching me how to cut them and understand their stories. And now, I see their stories as real, part of history.”
To Be Continued...
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