The "Curse" of the Hope Diamond with Tea & Gemstones | JOTT Podcast Ep. 8

00:57:27
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaPAEOhNx4k

概要

TLDRThe conversation focuses on the fascinating history and lore surrounding the Hope Diamond, one of the world's most famous and infamous jewels. Historian Jennifer Siverling, known for her podcast Tea and Gemstones, joins to unravel the stories behind this legendary blue diamond. The Hope Diamond is famous not only for its size and striking blue hue but also for the eerie tales of a supposed curse befalling its owners. Originating in India, and after being reduced from its original 112-carat form to its current 45.52 carats, it was owned by royalty and wealthy collectors from France to England. The diamond is now showcased at the Smithsonian, displayed in a protective case. With stories ranging from its mythical origins to accounts of misfortune, the Hope Diamond's history is rich with intrigue. The discussion also touches upon why cultures ascribe special powers to gemstones and the impact of these beliefs across history. Additionally, the hosts discuss parallels between jewelry's emotional connections and their stories, emphasizing how the narratives attached to gemstones add to their allure and value.

収穫

  • 💎 The Hope Diamond is one of the world's most famous blue diamonds.
  • 📜 It has a rich history intertwined with tales of curses and misfortune.
  • 📍 Currently, the Hope Diamond resides at the Smithsonian National Museum.
  • 🌀 It uniquely fluoresces red, adding to its mystical allure.
  • 👑 It passed through the hands of royalty and notable collectors.
  • 📖 Jennifer Siverling offers insightful historical context through her podcast.
  • 💰 Its value is as much in its story as in its physical attributes.
  • 🌌 Gemstones have long been attributed with mystical and protective powers.
  • 📬 The diamond was once mailed to the Smithsonian in 1958.
  • 🎙 The narratives attached to gemstones significantly enhance their intrigue.

タイムライン

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video introduces a discussion with historian Jennifer Siverling, known for her podcast "Tea and Gemstones", focusing on the stories behind gemstones like the Hope Diamond. Jennifer is described as knowledgeable and passionate about gemstones.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Jennifer is questioned about the belief that inanimate objects, such as gemstones, can influence people's fate or luck. She discusses how jade and other gemstones have been historically endowed with mystical properties by various cultures.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The discussion moves to the cultural superstitions surrounding objects like four-leaf clovers and unlucky symbols. Jennifer shares personal anecdotes to illustrate how different individuals perceive luck and destiny associated with certain objects, notably gemstones.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Jennifer describes how humans have always been fascinated with gemstones, attributing supernatural properties to them across cultures and times. The beauty and rarity of gemstones often lead to them being seen as divine.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The focus shifts to the Hope Diamond's enigmatic history, with Jennifer explaining its origin and the lore surrounding it. There's a narrative about how gemstones not only account for beauty but also hold perceived mystical powers impacting people's lives.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Jennifer and the host dive deeper into the lore of the Hope Diamond, particularly its reputed curse. They explore historical events and myths about the diamond influencing its owners' fates adversely.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Jennifer traces the Hope Diamond's journey from India, discussing how it changed hands over centuries. This trajectory included alleged curses, bad luck stories, and its eventual arrival in Europe, particularly France.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Jennifer details how the diamond, initially rough, was shaped and owned by various historical figures, influencing legends about it being cursed. Despite these legends, its enigmatic aura remains a subject of fascination.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    The tale continues with discussions about recent history, as well as anecdotes regarding modern perceptions and actions taken by those who owned the Hope Diamond.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:50:00

    Jennifer elaborates on Evelyn McLean's bizarre relationship with the Hope Diamond, adding her own observations, which include Evelyn using it in social events despite its cursed reputation.

  • 00:50:00 - 00:57:27

    The video concludes by discussing how the Hope Diamond resides at the Smithsonian today, stripped of its mythical terror and serving as an educational piece demonstrating the historical and scientific interest in gemstones.

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よくある質問

  • What is the Hope Diamond?

    The Hope Diamond is one of the most famous and historically well-documented blue diamonds, known for its size, color, and supposed curse.

  • Who is Jennifer Siverling?

    Jennifer Siverling is a historian known for her podcast Tea and Gemstones, which explores the history and allure of gemstones and jewelry.

  • Why is the Hope Diamond said to be cursed?

    The Hope Diamond is said to be cursed due to numerous tragedies and misfortunes befalling its owners throughout history.

  • Where is the Hope Diamond now?

    The Hope Diamond is currently housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

  • How did the Hope Diamond get its name?

    The Hope Diamond is named after Henry Philip Hope, a British collector who once owned the diamond.

  • What are some characteristics of the Hope Diamond?

    The Hope Diamond is blue in color, weighs 45.52 carats, and uniquely fluoresces red under ultraviolet light.

  • What was the original size of the Hope Diamond?

    The Hope Diamond originated as a 112-carat lumpy triangle before multiple recuttings.

  • Why is the Hope Diamond valuable?

    Beyond its physical characteristics, the Hope Diamond's value is amplified by its rich history and the mysterious tales surrounding it.

  • How did the Hope Diamond come to the Smithsonian?

    Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1958 via registered mail.

  • Why are gemstones believed to have magical properties?

    Many cultures have historically attributed mystical properties to gemstones due to their unique colors, formations, and perceived abilities to influence luck or protection.

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  • 00:00:01
    every gemstone has a story and just like
  • 00:00:03
    the people who wear them the tales of
  • 00:00:05
    some of these magical nature nuggets are
  • 00:00:07
    crazier than others i'm here with
  • 00:00:10
    historian jennifer siverling known for
  • 00:00:12
    her gemology podcast tea and gemstones
  • 00:00:15
    which focuses on diamonds metals
  • 00:00:18
    gemstones and jewelry in history as well
  • 00:00:20
    as in the modern spotlight thanks for
  • 00:00:23
    joining us jennifer
  • 00:00:24
    hi i am so happy to be here but um
  • 00:00:28
    are you calling me a little crazier than
  • 00:00:31
    other people
  • 00:00:33
    um
  • 00:00:34
    i mean i can't dispute that i guess
  • 00:00:36
    usually i crazy those of us who love
  • 00:00:39
    gemstones like just a little bit
  • 00:00:41
    yeah uh usually i'm just talking away to
  • 00:00:44
    myself so it's so lovely to have someone
  • 00:00:47
    else here on the microphone with me yes
  • 00:00:50
    jennifer has this phenomenal podcast
  • 00:00:52
    that everybody needs to subscribe to and
  • 00:00:55
    check out i definitely think you'll
  • 00:00:57
    enjoy it as much as i do especially if
  • 00:00:59
    you work in the jewelry industry there's
  • 00:01:01
    some very valuable information in there
  • 00:01:03
    that can help you sell and also connect
  • 00:01:06
    stronger and know more with the jewelry
  • 00:01:08
    that you're selling so
  • 00:01:10
    i will say though you can't be crazier
  • 00:01:13
    than i am jennifer i didn't mean to call
  • 00:01:15
    you crazy although you are crazy smart
  • 00:01:18
    when it comes to gemstones which is why
  • 00:01:19
    i'm so thrilled to have you here sharing
  • 00:01:21
    your wisdom with us today so today
  • 00:01:23
    jennifer and i are going to be talking
  • 00:01:25
    about the hope diamond
  • 00:01:28
    we are um but i want to segue uh
  • 00:01:32
    just to ask do you jordan do you think
  • 00:01:35
    you're in charge of your destiny uh-oh
  • 00:01:38
    are you trying to sell me something
  • 00:01:40
    we already have a vacuum cleaner
  • 00:01:42
    if you have a vacuum that controls your
  • 00:01:44
    destiny please let me know about that
  • 00:01:47
    awesome
  • 00:01:48
    but
  • 00:01:49
    the more the the meteor part of the
  • 00:01:52
    question is what about the concept that
  • 00:01:55
    an inanimate object can enact change to
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    people's circumstances
  • 00:02:00
    it's funny how often i get this question
  • 00:02:04
    you're not the first person to ask me
  • 00:02:06
    and it's usually from retail customers
  • 00:02:09
    so i'm a i'm a sales rep for mason k
  • 00:02:12
    jade and we do trunk shows at retail
  • 00:02:14
    stores and often when i'm selling jade
  • 00:02:17
    at the trunk shows
  • 00:02:19
    people ask me about that because so many
  • 00:02:21
    people have this very strong connection
  • 00:02:23
    to jade and there's different cultural
  • 00:02:26
    beliefs about jade and just a lot of
  • 00:02:29
    um kind of belief in its mysticism and
  • 00:02:32
    power and then
  • 00:02:34
    it's it's existed for thousands of years
  • 00:02:36
    and some of that superstition i think
  • 00:02:37
    has even like carried on over time and i
  • 00:02:40
    see it in customers
  • 00:02:42
    all the time
  • 00:02:43
    yes yes it's just that that vibe it
  • 00:02:48
    it sounds like a high-minded
  • 00:02:51
    philosophical discussion until you
  • 00:02:53
    realize that it's a concept we've been
  • 00:02:55
    familiar with since childhood
  • 00:02:58
    and
  • 00:02:59
    on the benevolent side we have things
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    like a lucky rabbit's foot on a key
  • 00:03:03
    chain looking for four leaf clovers in
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    the playground grass or picking up a
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    penny
  • 00:03:09
    necklaces charm bracelets featuring
  • 00:03:11
    horseshoes but then you kind of can
  • 00:03:13
    swing to on the darker side there's
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    avoiding walking under a ladder
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    opening an umbrella indoors breaking a
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    mirror anything with the number 13 don't
  • 00:03:24
    tell taylor swift
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    that's funny i feel like i do all of
  • 00:03:28
    these things on purpose am i a rebel do
  • 00:03:30
    i do i like purposely seek out bad luck
  • 00:03:32
    i am i actually my husband and i we got
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    married
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    on the 13th of april many many years ago
  • 00:03:38
    but we got married on the 13th on a
  • 00:03:41
    rainy day
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    and we picked it we eloped we picked it
  • 00:03:44
    because people were like you can't get
  • 00:03:46
    married on on on the 13th you can't get
  • 00:03:49
    married on a rainy day and i was like
  • 00:03:50
    watch me
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    yeah i mean i was born on a 13 and i was
  • 00:03:56
    in middle school and i went back into
  • 00:03:58
    the calendar years ago and was truly
  • 00:04:00
    disappointed that i wasn't born on a
  • 00:04:02
    friday the 13th i was born on a tuesday
  • 00:04:06
    tuesday the 13th i don't think there's
  • 00:04:08
    anything lucky or unlucky about tuesdays
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    but
  • 00:04:13
    disregarding the days of the week you
  • 00:04:15
    have to think about how do gemstones
  • 00:04:17
    play into this
  • 00:04:18
    um
  • 00:04:19
    well across time and cultures it's in
  • 00:04:22
    it's not disputed humans have been
  • 00:04:24
    obsessed with gemstones and how could we
  • 00:04:28
    not be there are these amazing stones
  • 00:04:31
    that come in every known color with
  • 00:04:33
    wonderful properties not shared by
  • 00:04:35
    anything else in the world it's no
  • 00:04:38
    wonder many cultures have attached
  • 00:04:40
    divine or mystical properties to
  • 00:04:42
    gemstones
  • 00:04:44
    science talks about how gemstones are
  • 00:04:46
    formed with heat and pressure but
  • 00:04:48
    besides the science of it i mean you
  • 00:04:51
    take a long deep look into the swirling
  • 00:04:54
    colors of an opal you crack open an
  • 00:04:56
    oyster and there's a pearl inside and
  • 00:04:59
    how alexandrite changes from red to
  • 00:05:01
    green depending on the light source and
  • 00:05:03
    there's nothing harder than a diamond i
  • 00:05:05
    mean
  • 00:05:06
    tell me there isn't something
  • 00:05:07
    otherworldly about gemstones
  • 00:05:11
    i mean explain those things to me
  • 00:05:13
    so it isn't a surprise that throughout
  • 00:05:16
    history mankind has attributed magical
  • 00:05:19
    powers to gemstones which includes an
  • 00:05:22
    influence on luck fate destiny or
  • 00:05:26
    a curse
  • 00:05:28
    that's right today jennifer is going to
  • 00:05:29
    tell us about the history of the hope
  • 00:05:31
    diamond one of the most famous or maybe
  • 00:05:34
    infamous diamonds in the world jennifer
  • 00:05:37
    is actually a historian with her own
  • 00:05:39
    incredible podcast of which i am a fan
  • 00:05:41
    tea and gemstones jennifer can you tell
  • 00:05:44
    listeners a little bit about you and
  • 00:05:46
    your podcast before we dive into the
  • 00:05:48
    hope diamond
  • 00:05:49
    oh no i'd rather talk about gemstones
  • 00:05:53
    no i
  • 00:05:55
    i am just a lifelong sparkle enthusiast
  • 00:05:59
    who
  • 00:06:00
    loves
  • 00:06:02
    details i feel like the joys of life are
  • 00:06:04
    often found in the details and i
  • 00:06:08
    just love
  • 00:06:09
    probing and exploring any kind of little
  • 00:06:11
    explanation to do with gemstones i think
  • 00:06:14
    they are some of the most fascinating
  • 00:06:17
    items on the planet for all the reasons
  • 00:06:19
    that i just described and the world that
  • 00:06:21
    we live in now is set up in a way that
  • 00:06:23
    i've kind of created this little corner
  • 00:06:26
    of the audio universe
  • 00:06:28
    with my
  • 00:06:29
    podcast tea and gemstones where i can
  • 00:06:31
    talk about gemstones and people that
  • 00:06:33
    feel the same way that i do can come and
  • 00:06:35
    participate and listen and it's become
  • 00:06:38
    kind of this like safe sparkly space for
  • 00:06:41
    learning and fun and
  • 00:06:42
    i just love it
  • 00:06:44
    i love it i love it it's a great podcast
  • 00:06:46
    you should all subscribe to it so all
  • 00:06:49
    right jennifer i
  • 00:06:50
    i do not know enough about the hope
  • 00:06:53
    diamond i really don't so i'm just gonna
  • 00:06:55
    let you
  • 00:06:56
    tell me and and i will just i will sit
  • 00:06:59
    here in shock and awe because i did read
  • 00:07:01
    a book on it i'm somewhat familiar with
  • 00:07:03
    the hope diamond but i definitely don't
  • 00:07:05
    have the the scale of knowledge that you
  • 00:07:07
    have so i'm ready to be wowed
  • 00:07:09
    uh
  • 00:07:11
    the hope diamond um
  • 00:07:14
    explaining about the hope diamond is
  • 00:07:17
    just kind of a thing where
  • 00:07:19
    it's like how much time do you have and
  • 00:07:21
    no matter how much time you have it
  • 00:07:22
    really isn't going to be enough it's one
  • 00:07:25
    of those
  • 00:07:26
    stories that the more you look the more
  • 00:07:29
    you find and really you're just going to
  • 00:07:31
    have to decide for yourself that you're
  • 00:07:32
    going to walk away and not listen to it
  • 00:07:34
    anymore because the history will not run
  • 00:07:36
    out
  • 00:07:37
    with the hope diamond
  • 00:07:39
    and
  • 00:07:40
    i think that's because it just this
  • 00:07:42
    diamond has such a history we as people
  • 00:07:46
    care about jewelry i think because of
  • 00:07:48
    the history attached to it more so than
  • 00:07:51
    the price tag value
  • 00:07:52
    uh definitely yeah 100 i think it's what
  • 00:07:55
    keeps the industry going really right
  • 00:07:58
    yeah we we love who the jewelry was
  • 00:08:00
    owned by where the piece has been um
  • 00:08:04
    like you hang on to your grandfather's
  • 00:08:05
    favorite signet ring because he wore it
  • 00:08:07
    every day and you felt it when he patted
  • 00:08:09
    your shoulder as a child
  • 00:08:11
    or you love the silver necklace you got
  • 00:08:13
    back in college and wore on first dates
  • 00:08:16
    it's the memories and the association
  • 00:08:18
    with the past that makes the love but
  • 00:08:20
    that affection kind of is a two-edged
  • 00:08:23
    sword if memories can be the basis of
  • 00:08:26
    love
  • 00:08:27
    they can also be the basis of
  • 00:08:29
    not love like
  • 00:08:31
    if your boyfriend cheats on you the
  • 00:08:33
    diamond earrings he gave you can have
  • 00:08:35
    the worst juju and it does not matter
  • 00:08:38
    that they are a full carrot you don't
  • 00:08:40
    want them anymore
  • 00:08:42
    i saw that all the time when i worked in
  • 00:08:45
    retail i think that's how divorce rings
  • 00:08:47
    came to be
  • 00:08:48
    because people they wanted to remount
  • 00:08:51
    the diamond from their engagement ring
  • 00:08:52
    to get rid of the i always called it the
  • 00:08:54
    bad juju and um you know i'd say oh well
  • 00:08:57
    once you once you remount the diamond
  • 00:08:59
    the juju goes away you know
  • 00:09:01
    yes
  • 00:09:02
    like a sales person thing like oh well
  • 00:09:04
    it's like a totally different ring and
  • 00:09:06
    it is you know once you remount that
  • 00:09:07
    stone it's a totally different piece and
  • 00:09:09
    a new experience and so you can see it
  • 00:09:11
    in a different way but definitely yeah
  • 00:09:13
    seeing the stones in the same setting if
  • 00:09:15
    it's attached to a dark memory yeah it's
  • 00:09:18
    it's painful and it's interesting the
  • 00:09:19
    way that we
  • 00:09:20
    associate memories and emotions with
  • 00:09:23
    tangible things
  • 00:09:25
    it's a really complex idea
  • 00:09:28
    that
  • 00:09:29
    like a stone that was once positive has
  • 00:09:32
    taken on bad juju but we can take
  • 00:09:36
    control of that juju somehow and alter
  • 00:09:39
    or control it but okay
  • 00:09:42
    so what do you do
  • 00:09:44
    when you're presented with one of the
  • 00:09:45
    most epic gemstones on earth this
  • 00:09:48
    magnificent blue diamond one of the most
  • 00:09:51
    gorgeous ever found
  • 00:09:54
    but man this thing has some bad juju
  • 00:09:57
    some awful memories and history
  • 00:10:00
    associated with it
  • 00:10:01
    is that the gemstones fault does the
  • 00:10:04
    hope diamond have the power to influence
  • 00:10:06
    the lives of those it comes in contact
  • 00:10:08
    with what if the curse is fiction can
  • 00:10:10
    you take the risk if it's not
  • 00:10:13
    i would i would take the risk somebody
  • 00:10:15
    give me the hope diamond
  • 00:10:18
    i'll take all the juju
  • 00:10:21
    the history of the hope diamond is is so
  • 00:10:23
    fascinating and like you said it's one
  • 00:10:25
    it's how much time do you have there's
  • 00:10:26
    so much there and that history can be
  • 00:10:29
    traced back all the way to i believe
  • 00:10:31
    1653 which is when tavernier supposedly
  • 00:10:35
    acquired the rough in india supposedly
  • 00:10:41
    and uh his his record of sale to king
  • 00:10:43
    louis i believe 14. was in 1666
  • 00:10:48
    um
  • 00:10:50
    which is of course predicated on the
  • 00:10:52
    belief that the french blue was in fact
  • 00:10:53
    the hope diamond which i mean i think it
  • 00:10:55
    was do you think it was
  • 00:10:57
    yeah so
  • 00:10:59
    nowadays gemstone companies try to be
  • 00:11:02
    very transparent about stone origins but
  • 00:11:05
    we don't actually know with a hundred
  • 00:11:07
    percent certainty where and when the
  • 00:11:09
    hope diamond was discovered um which i
  • 00:11:12
    guess is the downside to your origin
  • 00:11:14
    story taking place in the 15th century
  • 00:11:17
    um if an enormous blue diamond was
  • 00:11:19
    discovered in more modern times it
  • 00:11:21
    probably would instantly have its own
  • 00:11:22
    hashtag and a circulating meme
  • 00:11:25
    oh and an auto-tuned theme song
  • 00:11:28
    do people still do that i'm not very hip
  • 00:11:30
    i'm not really sure you know that would
  • 00:11:31
    be the coolest yes something would be on
  • 00:11:34
    tick tock
  • 00:11:35
    uh that's right yes tick tock and it
  • 00:11:38
    would be a trend it would be a trend
  • 00:11:40
    i don't know my words
  • 00:11:42
    but in 1666 you've got to settle for a
  • 00:11:45
    small mention in a london newspaper that
  • 00:11:48
    a merchant had acquired a blue diamond
  • 00:11:50
    and when we say acquired
  • 00:11:53
    we know the hope diamond came from india
  • 00:11:55
    but where exactly in india is swath and
  • 00:11:58
    mystery it gets very honda is it gokanda
  • 00:12:02
    am i right
  • 00:12:03
    yeah it gets very indiana jones um one
  • 00:12:07
    rumor is that the diamond was plucked
  • 00:12:09
    from the eye of the statue of a hindu
  • 00:12:11
    god who then oh yeah that's that's
  • 00:12:14
    and then the god put the curse on the
  • 00:12:16
    diamond as retaliation for its theft
  • 00:12:20
    but you're right the odds are that it
  • 00:12:21
    came from this um the kohler mine in
  • 00:12:24
    golconda india
  • 00:12:26
    um and a fun fact i think it's fun our
  • 00:12:29
    first records of the hope diamond
  • 00:12:31
    described it as a 112 carat lumpy
  • 00:12:35
    triangle jordan did you like it
  • 00:12:39
    i would love a lumpy triangle you
  • 00:12:41
    anybody can gift me a hundred and twelve
  • 00:12:43
    carat blue diamond lumpy triangle i will
  • 00:12:45
    say thank you
  • 00:12:47
    i will we can we can get married
  • 00:12:48
    whatever you want
  • 00:12:50
    there was a reason for this unattractive
  • 00:12:53
    lumpy triangle shape um and it has to do
  • 00:12:56
    earlier with what i mentioned with
  • 00:12:58
    people believing gemstones have power
  • 00:13:00
    and influence over the world around them
  • 00:13:03
    um the indians who mined the diamond
  • 00:13:06
    they followed the philosophy that they
  • 00:13:08
    did not cut gemstones for maximum
  • 00:13:10
    sparkle
  • 00:13:11
    um instead they tended to preserve as
  • 00:13:14
    much of the stone as they could only
  • 00:13:16
    cutting out cracks and other
  • 00:13:18
    imperfections and that was pretty common
  • 00:13:22
    right i mean diamonds weren't really cut
  • 00:13:24
    for sparkle until quite a bit later is
  • 00:13:26
    that correct
  • 00:13:28
    yeah um i it kind of goes hand in hand
  • 00:13:31
    that they were duly limited by the lack
  • 00:13:34
    of the physical tools to create things
  • 00:13:37
    like the modern round brilliant cut
  • 00:13:40
    a lot of the diamond cuts that we're
  • 00:13:41
    familiar with now only developed in the
  • 00:13:43
    last hundred years or so
  • 00:13:45
    and back then it was like size was king
  • 00:13:48
    if this stone is 112 carats we're not
  • 00:13:51
    gonna cut a single bit off of it we want
  • 00:13:54
    it as lazy
  • 00:13:56
    i mean they knew what they liked and
  • 00:13:58
    they liked big
  • 00:14:01
    but they also believed that kind of
  • 00:14:03
    leaving the stone as intact as possible
  • 00:14:06
    maximized the gemstones ability to
  • 00:14:08
    protect
  • 00:14:09
    you from evil influence
  • 00:14:13
    uh so maybe the hope diamond cursed was
  • 00:14:16
    unleashed because people recut this
  • 00:14:18
    diamond so much and they lessened its
  • 00:14:21
    evil fighting power obviously
  • 00:14:24
    obviously because it was recap multiple
  • 00:14:27
    times through the centuries we know of
  • 00:14:29
    at least three cuttings until it arrived
  • 00:14:31
    in its final form weighing in so it
  • 00:14:33
    started at 112. its final form is
  • 00:14:37
    45.52 carats
  • 00:14:41
    it went from original lumpy triangle to
  • 00:14:43
    now it's in kind of
  • 00:14:45
    the technical term it's been described
  • 00:14:47
    of is a walnut
  • 00:14:49
    walnut cushion cut shape i'll take that
  • 00:14:51
    too i'll take a triangle i'll take a
  • 00:14:53
    walnut
  • 00:14:55
    yeah i'm not picky give me a blue
  • 00:14:56
    diamond somebody anybody
  • 00:14:58
    it would be hard to turn down a blue
  • 00:15:00
    diamond in any shape uh but back when it
  • 00:15:03
    was a triangle you're right it was sold
  • 00:15:06
    to the king of france um
  • 00:15:08
    1666 1668 and the king called it the
  • 00:15:12
    french blue
  • 00:15:14
    and he was the one who ordered its first
  • 00:15:15
    free cutting in 1673 and he liked to
  • 00:15:20
    wear the diamond on a ribbon around his
  • 00:15:22
    neck for quote special occasions unquote
  • 00:15:26
    um but owning the world's first known
  • 00:15:28
    blue diamond didn't mean good luck for
  • 00:15:30
    the french
  • 00:15:32
    i'm so sorry
  • 00:15:35
    uh
  • 00:15:38
    i just get so emotional talk about this
  • 00:15:40
    diamond
  • 00:15:41
    um blue diamond
  • 00:15:44
    but owning the world's first blue
  • 00:15:46
    diamond didn't mean good luck for the
  • 00:15:48
    french royal family uh because they were
  • 00:15:50
    overthrown and beheaded in the french
  • 00:15:52
    revolution and all the french royal
  • 00:15:54
    jewels including the french blue aka the
  • 00:15:57
    hope diamond was stolen by a mob in a
  • 00:16:00
    week-long riot in 1792. man that's rough
  • 00:16:04
    that's that's some tough stuff now who
  • 00:16:06
    okay so this was king louie the was this
  • 00:16:09
    the 14th
  • 00:16:11
    i believe
  • 00:16:13
    so well that was marie antoinette's
  • 00:16:16
    husband yeah which i believe might be
  • 00:16:17
    the 15th or the 6th it's a lot of louise
  • 00:16:20
    there's a lot of louise it's one of the
  • 00:16:22
    louise but it was marie antoinette's
  • 00:16:25
    yes yes that kind of plays into the
  • 00:16:28
    curse because i really don't know what
  • 00:16:30
    could be more bad luck than being
  • 00:16:32
    beheaded by an angry mob
  • 00:16:35
    given just to clarify though she was
  • 00:16:37
    behave beheaded many years later like i
  • 00:16:40
    think i think it was like 10 or 20 years
  • 00:16:42
    after the french revolution that they
  • 00:16:44
    actually started lining up well they
  • 00:16:46
    took him some time to find them i think
  • 00:16:47
    she was in hiding or something for like
  • 00:16:50
    a while and then they found him and they
  • 00:16:52
    chopped off how many like hundreds or
  • 00:16:54
    thousands of people had their heads
  • 00:16:56
    chopped off by the guillotine
  • 00:16:58
    yeah uh robespierre who invented the
  • 00:17:00
    guillotine and it was definitely one of
  • 00:17:02
    the more efficient ways to do away with
  • 00:17:05
    politicians
  • 00:17:07
    um but when you're talking about the
  • 00:17:09
    history of the diamond it definitely
  • 00:17:11
    sounds more juicy oh it does if you
  • 00:17:14
    don't mention like like actually details
  • 00:17:17
    lots of people have their heads chopped
  • 00:17:18
    off no we just want to mention the one
  • 00:17:20
    that was connected or the two that were
  • 00:17:21
    connected to the diamond that had their
  • 00:17:23
    their heads chopped off
  • 00:17:24
    yes people talk about it as if the king
  • 00:17:27
    walked to the guillotine like clutching
  • 00:17:29
    the diamond in his hand and then like
  • 00:17:31
    rolled into the crowd
  • 00:17:33
    but that's not what happened we have no
  • 00:17:35
    idea actually where the diamond went
  • 00:17:38
    after it was stolen
  • 00:17:40
    um
  • 00:17:41
    but when
  • 00:17:42
    napoleon good old napoleon when he
  • 00:17:45
    became emperor of france
  • 00:17:47
    one of he declared that he would find it
  • 00:17:49
    he swore he would find the french blue
  • 00:17:53
    but i mean he also said he would conquer
  • 00:17:55
    russia conquer the world he made a lot
  • 00:17:57
    of declaration
  • 00:17:58
    yeah he made a lot of big declarative
  • 00:18:00
    statements
  • 00:18:02
    um
  • 00:18:03
    but
  • 00:18:04
    a magical stone like the hope diamond
  • 00:18:07
    this huge beautiful blue diamond that
  • 00:18:09
    something like that isn't going to
  • 00:18:11
    vanish without a trace
  • 00:18:13
    and about 20 years after it was snatched
  • 00:18:16
    by the looters it resurfaces in the
  • 00:18:18
    hands of a diamond merchant named daniel
  • 00:18:21
    eliason
  • 00:18:23
    only
  • 00:18:24
    it's smaller no
  • 00:18:27
    they cut it
  • 00:18:28
    yeah when it was a french blue so it
  • 00:18:31
    started at
  • 00:18:32
    112
  • 00:18:34
    and when it was the french blue it was
  • 00:18:35
    about 67 carats and now it's about 45.
  • 00:18:40
    um so the speculation is the french blue
  • 00:18:43
    diamond that's what the looters they
  • 00:18:45
    they stole it and then it was so
  • 00:18:47
    distinctive they re-cut it
  • 00:18:49
    um but jordan somewhere out there is 22
  • 00:18:52
    missing carrots of blue diamond that
  • 00:18:54
    could be mine i think it has my name on
  • 00:18:56
    it i think we should call it the jordan
  • 00:18:57
    diamond but i i think it probably
  • 00:18:59
    already has a name um i like to believe
  • 00:19:02
    that that
  • 00:19:04
    that diamond um
  • 00:19:05
    may have been the very mysterious
  • 00:19:07
    brunswick blue which if you look into it
  • 00:19:10
    actually has its own crazy story um it
  • 00:19:13
    may have been cut from the french blue
  • 00:19:14
    it seems to be kind of a debated thing
  • 00:19:16
    like how would they really know because
  • 00:19:18
    they haven't found the brunswick blue um
  • 00:19:21
    and i hope it's still out there
  • 00:19:22
    somewhere in one piece but it's very
  • 00:19:24
    uncertain it probably was re-cut into a
  • 00:19:27
    bunch of smaller stones but we if we
  • 00:19:30
    found them we don't know that we found
  • 00:19:33
    them i've always thought it would there
  • 00:19:36
    may be a way to prove
  • 00:19:39
    that there is material out there that
  • 00:19:41
    came from the french blue because
  • 00:19:42
    interesting fact about the hope diamond
  • 00:19:45
    it fluoresces red
  • 00:19:48
    spooky right very curse-like and
  • 00:19:51
    as far as i know i think it's the only
  • 00:19:53
    blue diamond that's known to fluoresce
  • 00:19:56
    red so when you say fluoresce red that
  • 00:19:59
    me what when we say a diamond fluoresces
  • 00:20:01
    that means you shine it under a uv light
  • 00:20:04
    and it glows and in this case it glows
  • 00:20:07
    in a completely different color so
  • 00:20:09
    basically typically diamonds fluoresce
  • 00:20:12
    blue
  • 00:20:13
    right or yellow or yeah they can
  • 00:20:15
    fluoresce in any color but yes i would
  • 00:20:17
    say like probably most of the melee and
  • 00:20:21
    diamonds that you're going to see in a
  • 00:20:22
    jewelry store yeah in fact i encourage
  • 00:20:24
    anybody listening to this um to shine a
  • 00:20:27
    uv light or a black light on your
  • 00:20:29
    wedding ring and see if you have any
  • 00:20:30
    fluorescent diamonds in your ring
  • 00:20:32
    because that's always a fun surprise
  • 00:20:34
    when i i actually carry my my uv pen
  • 00:20:36
    light around it's my party trick when i
  • 00:20:39
    go places i'll shine people's jewelry
  • 00:20:42
    underneath the light and they'll be like
  • 00:20:43
    oh
  • 00:20:44
    it glows and you know they never knew
  • 00:20:46
    that it glows but yeah so anyways it the
  • 00:20:49
    the hope diamond fluoresces red and and
  • 00:20:51
    so if the brunswick blue is out there it
  • 00:20:53
    fluoresces red too or if it was cut into
  • 00:20:55
    smaller stones
  • 00:20:56
    they would probably fluoresce red too so
  • 00:20:59
    if we were to find those stones it's
  • 00:21:01
    it's likely that it could have come from
  • 00:21:03
    the french blue i love that put that
  • 00:21:05
    into the universe that if you're
  • 00:21:06
    listening to this and you're lucky
  • 00:21:08
    enough to own a small blue diamond
  • 00:21:10
    please
  • 00:21:11
    shine it under a uv light and then
  • 00:21:13
    message us if it's red yes we'll message
  • 00:21:16
    everybody message gia like let's let's
  • 00:21:18
    call the smithsonian
  • 00:21:20
    let's find these pieces
  • 00:21:22
    yes i i love that the hope diamond has
  • 00:21:25
    like a tell this giveaway characteristic
  • 00:21:28
    that can't be faked or imitated it just
  • 00:21:30
    adds to the mystique of this stone it's
  • 00:21:32
    like how cool is that not only is it
  • 00:21:34
    enormous and blue it has like a secret
  • 00:21:37
    superpower
  • 00:21:39
    but this one curse that's like the
  • 00:21:41
    opposite of a curse
  • 00:21:43
    i mean something glowing red
  • 00:21:46
    it's not usually a positive sign but
  • 00:21:48
    it's a little menacing
  • 00:21:50
    but it's so cool this one piece we know
  • 00:21:53
    of this 45 carat piece it gets sold to a
  • 00:21:56
    new king hops across the pond to king
  • 00:22:00
    george
  • 00:22:01
    the
  • 00:22:02
    fourth of england
  • 00:22:04
    and his bad luck is that he spent all of
  • 00:22:07
    his country's money
  • 00:22:08
    and
  • 00:22:10
    if you think about the size of england's
  • 00:22:12
    empire that's quite a feat
  • 00:22:14
    um and when king george died in 1830 the
  • 00:22:18
    diamond was sold to pay off some of his
  • 00:22:20
    debts
  • 00:22:21
    and it ended up in the hands of a guy
  • 00:22:24
    named henry philip
  • 00:22:26
    hope
  • 00:22:27
    a world famous diamond collector and
  • 00:22:29
    that guy's name
  • 00:22:31
    yes he has the pronoun that will stick
  • 00:22:34
    to the tricky blue diamond forever
  • 00:22:36
    that's so interesting to me
  • 00:22:39
    because
  • 00:22:40
    i was shocked when i found out i always
  • 00:22:42
    thought it was called hope because of
  • 00:22:44
    like
  • 00:22:45
    hope the feeling of hope i didn't
  • 00:22:47
    realize it was someone's name
  • 00:22:48
    and super fun albeit random and
  • 00:22:51
    irrelevant fact about henry hope um
  • 00:22:55
    this man was so rich he actually helped
  • 00:22:58
    the united states finance the louisiana
  • 00:23:01
    purchase
  • 00:23:03
    that i did not know that so he dealt
  • 00:23:06
    in
  • 00:23:07
    diamonds and
  • 00:23:10
    countries
  • 00:23:12
    i guess
  • 00:23:14
    so he was indeed rich that's a level of
  • 00:23:16
    that is not a tax bracket that i
  • 00:23:18
    participate in but his descendants did
  • 00:23:22
    not make smart decisions with the family
  • 00:23:25
    funds um hope's family would go on to
  • 00:23:28
    make
  • 00:23:28
    generations of bad business decisions
  • 00:23:31
    and ultimately his great grand nephew
  • 00:23:34
    um who could have an hbo series about
  • 00:23:37
    him he got into some bad deals about
  • 00:23:40
    like betting on horses and his showgirl
  • 00:23:43
    wife got into some trouble and he lost
  • 00:23:46
    the hope diamond by court litigation to
  • 00:23:49
    pay off debt
  • 00:23:50
    um
  • 00:23:52
    yeah his name is
  • 00:23:54
    i didn't even write it down because i
  • 00:23:55
    was just so ashamed of his actions
  • 00:23:58
    but the diamond was purchased by a
  • 00:24:00
    jeweler company named joseph frankel
  • 00:24:03
    sons and company and then this company
  • 00:24:06
    um you know we could play guess the bad
  • 00:24:09
    luck for 500 jordan what do you take
  • 00:24:11
    uh for 500 i'll take death and
  • 00:24:13
    destruction alex
  • 00:24:15
    okay well it's bankruptcy oh
  • 00:24:18
    well uh
  • 00:24:20
    three for three yeah three for three of
  • 00:24:23
    the last hope diamond owners lose all
  • 00:24:25
    their money and subsequently the
  • 00:24:27
    gemstone
  • 00:24:28
    and people are starting to notice in
  • 00:24:32
    1908 the new york times ran an article
  • 00:24:35
    about the diamond's woeful history and i
  • 00:24:37
    mean
  • 00:24:38
    salacious gossip sells hey there's
  • 00:24:41
    something no different than modern times
  • 00:24:44
    and other newspapers perhaps less
  • 00:24:46
    constrained by facts and sources than
  • 00:24:48
    the reputable new york times
  • 00:24:50
    they ran their own versions of the
  • 00:24:52
    history of the hope diamond it's like a
  • 00:24:54
    game of telephone as each paper
  • 00:24:56
    subsequently writes a story they just
  • 00:24:58
    yeah
  • 00:25:01
    analogy it is it's like the game of
  • 00:25:03
    telephone
  • 00:25:04
    and each person just adds their spice
  • 00:25:06
    until it finally is real spicy um
  • 00:25:10
    they said things like
  • 00:25:12
    it played a role in marie antoinette and
  • 00:25:14
    her husband the king being executed at
  • 00:25:16
    the guillotine they talk about the
  • 00:25:18
    origin of it being yanked from an
  • 00:25:20
    ancient statue's eye socket which i mean
  • 00:25:22
    sure makes for an interesting story
  • 00:25:24
    rather than the facts which is a bunch
  • 00:25:26
    of old dudes cannot manage their
  • 00:25:28
    finances and they lost the stone
  • 00:25:31
    is that the stone's fault uh
  • 00:25:34
    well
  • 00:25:35
    the hope diamond makes its way into some
  • 00:25:38
    pretty famous hands the cartier brothers
  • 00:25:40
    in perry hey we know them uh-huh so
  • 00:25:44
    there was a famous novel called the
  • 00:25:46
    moonstone written by a british guy named
  • 00:25:48
    wilkie collins yes no the moonstone if
  • 00:25:51
    i'm not mistaken i think i think that
  • 00:25:54
    book might be where this whole like
  • 00:25:56
    opals or cursed cockamamie came from
  • 00:25:59
    right is that where that myth comes from
  • 00:26:01
    did i make that up it certainly didn't
  • 00:26:03
    provide good pr for gemstones um it did
  • 00:26:07
    not make them out to be lucky talismans
  • 00:26:10
    uh he he wrote the novel in 1868 and the
  • 00:26:14
    cliff notes of it is there's this huge
  • 00:26:17
    cursed yellow diamond plucked from the
  • 00:26:19
    eye of a hindu deity statue in a temple
  • 00:26:22
    by foreign conquerors and the stone
  • 00:26:24
    proceeds to cause murder kidnapping
  • 00:26:27
    insanity and death all over the world
  • 00:26:30
    until it's returned home to the eye
  • 00:26:32
    socket from which it came
  • 00:26:34
    sound familiar
  • 00:26:36
    sounds like a party yeah so what's
  • 00:26:39
    called a yellow diamond like
  • 00:26:41
    was it based it wasn't based on the hope
  • 00:26:44
    diamond this was just a weird
  • 00:26:45
    coincidence right
  • 00:26:47
    so the hope diamond existed when this
  • 00:26:50
    book was written i'm not sure why the
  • 00:26:52
    author chose to make it yellow uh maybe
  • 00:26:55
    maybe he hadn't heard of it like maybe
  • 00:26:57
    that's where like the hindu deity story
  • 00:26:59
    came from
  • 00:27:01
    was from this
  • 00:27:03
    yeah it it provided a good foundation
  • 00:27:06
    for a sales tactic for the unlucky hope
  • 00:27:10
    diamond um so one of the cartier
  • 00:27:12
    brothers his name is pierre he's the
  • 00:27:14
    savvy salesman he now has this
  • 00:27:18
    blue diamond in his possession
  • 00:27:20
    and he has a friendship and business
  • 00:27:22
    relationship with a woman named evelyn
  • 00:27:24
    mclean
  • 00:27:26
    and evelyn was kind of this wild
  • 00:27:28
    interesting character
  • 00:27:30
    and pierre wanted to sell the diamond to
  • 00:27:33
    her and he
  • 00:27:35
    compared the newspaper stories about the
  • 00:27:37
    hope diamond to hey look at this cursed
  • 00:27:40
    diamond from this novel and he kind of
  • 00:27:42
    spun this web of drama and intrigue
  • 00:27:45
    about the stone and evelyn was just
  • 00:27:47
    enamored with the drama of this diamond
  • 00:27:50
    and she purchased it from pierre for
  • 00:27:52
    about five million dollars in today's
  • 00:27:54
    money
  • 00:27:56
    i would i mean i i
  • 00:27:58
    i don't think the curse would have
  • 00:27:59
    scared me either but you know i i
  • 00:28:01
    wouldn't say i'm i'm like evelyn mclean
  • 00:28:03
    i don't know a ton about her but she she
  • 00:28:05
    was a little odd wasn't she
  • 00:28:07
    she
  • 00:28:09
    she's fascinating and she's worth
  • 00:28:11
    speaking of which i will now proceed to
  • 00:28:13
    do for several minutes in a row um
  • 00:28:16
    evelyn did some kooky things with this
  • 00:28:19
    world-class stone um so she bought it
  • 00:28:22
    and she promptly took it to church in
  • 00:28:24
    1911 to have a blessing
  • 00:28:28
    she took it to have it blessed uh to
  • 00:28:30
    remove any lingering cursiness which
  • 00:28:33
    seems like a very responsible thing to
  • 00:28:34
    do i don't blame her because modern
  • 00:28:36
    horror movies hadn't come out yet and so
  • 00:28:39
    she wouldn't have known that that
  • 00:28:40
    doesn't work
  • 00:28:42
    well apparently as the diamond sat on
  • 00:28:44
    its cushion awaiting its blessing from
  • 00:28:46
    the priest
  • 00:28:48
    a bolt of lightning crashed across the
  • 00:28:50
    sky and thunder shook the building and
  • 00:28:52
    this was at like four o'clock in the
  • 00:28:54
    afternoon
  • 00:28:56
    everyone at the blessing was really
  • 00:28:57
    freaked out um she had invited like a
  • 00:29:00
    ton of her friends to this blessing uh
  • 00:29:03
    but apparently evelyn laughed and
  • 00:29:05
    declared i've worn my diamond as a charm
  • 00:29:08
    her story like did is this from her
  • 00:29:11
    diary is this a story that she told
  • 00:29:14
    yeah well yes and people knew about it
  • 00:29:16
    like yeah there were lots of people who
  • 00:29:18
    attended the blessing and i think the
  • 00:29:20
    storm weather report was actually
  • 00:29:22
    written up in the newspaper oh really
  • 00:29:25
    yeah like the society pages like the
  • 00:29:27
    page six of it
  • 00:29:28
    oh my gosh
  • 00:29:30
    loving it
  • 00:29:31
    yeah oh like no such thing as so much
  • 00:29:34
    attention yeah no such thing as bad
  • 00:29:36
    publicity yeah um she wore the diamond
  • 00:29:39
    everywhere get this she used to let her
  • 00:29:42
    dog he was a great dane and his name was
  • 00:29:45
    mike she used to let her dog mike wear
  • 00:29:48
    the diamond around his neck when he
  • 00:29:50
    would go for a walk that's great can we
  • 00:29:52
    take a second to note that she named her
  • 00:29:55
    dog mike that's like naming your cat
  • 00:29:58
    karen that's that's fantastic i'm i'm
  • 00:30:00
    loving this keep going
  • 00:30:02
    yes uh so and evelyn used to
  • 00:30:05
    deliberately lose the stone at parties
  • 00:30:09
    and make a big show of it and make all
  • 00:30:11
    the children there look for it as a game
  • 00:30:14
    any of her friends and family that had
  • 00:30:16
    daughters or friends that got married
  • 00:30:18
    she would lend the diamond out to brides
  • 00:30:20
    to wear as there's something blue
  • 00:30:22
    can you imagine there's like a slew of
  • 00:30:24
    wedding photos of just women wearing the
  • 00:30:26
    hope diamond bless her heart
  • 00:30:29
    it's a wonder we still have it
  • 00:30:32
    yes uh well she even pawned the stone
  • 00:30:35
    once to raise money to personally fund
  • 00:30:38
    an investigation into the kidnapping of
  • 00:30:40
    the charles lindbergh baby
  • 00:30:43
    um i do remember that story yes and then
  • 00:30:46
    once the that case was tragically
  • 00:30:49
    resolved she went and bought the diamond
  • 00:30:51
    back um
  • 00:30:53
    it was probably a pr kind of thing
  • 00:30:56
    i you know maybe like a show like very
  • 00:30:58
    showy like look at me look at you know
  • 00:31:00
    this good deed that i'm doing
  • 00:31:02
    yeah i don't know i didn't know evelyn
  • 00:31:04
    she might she might have been a doll
  • 00:31:06
    i don't know yeah everything that like
  • 00:31:08
    we hear about her antics it all seems
  • 00:31:10
    kind of like a wink and a mischief and
  • 00:31:12
    with a touch of humor to it um
  • 00:31:15
    but
  • 00:31:16
    but there is bad luck that continued to
  • 00:31:18
    follow the hope diamond and i mean i
  • 00:31:21
    can't help but feel intrigued as i like
  • 00:31:23
    look beyond kind of the wink wink funny
  • 00:31:26
    funny things that evelyn did like
  • 00:31:27
    there's there's some compelling tragedy
  • 00:31:30
    um for a case that you have to wonder
  • 00:31:32
    man is the stone cursed oh yeah yeah my
  • 00:31:36
    one time my friend called me and she was
  • 00:31:38
    like i think my house is haunted and i
  • 00:31:40
    said well don't be ridiculous
  • 00:31:43
    your house isn't haunted houses aren't
  • 00:31:45
    haunted people are and i thought it was
  • 00:31:47
    funny she hung up on me
  • 00:31:49
    it was that funny
  • 00:31:51
    oh no i have never heard that before and
  • 00:31:54
    that is both like terrifying and
  • 00:31:57
    fascinating no right it's chilling and i
  • 00:32:00
    think i mean i think everybody has bad
  • 00:32:02
    things happen to them
  • 00:32:04
    it probably seems you probably forget
  • 00:32:06
    until you like write it out into a
  • 00:32:07
    timeline but
  • 00:32:08
    more than that i think i think people
  • 00:32:10
    cause bad things to happen to themselves
  • 00:32:13
    because they're complacent or
  • 00:32:15
    self-obsessed or not intelligent or you
  • 00:32:17
    know they make mistakes and
  • 00:32:19
    um
  • 00:32:21
    it's interesting how
  • 00:32:23
    people don't want the accountability
  • 00:32:25
    they'd rather blame a curse they'd
  • 00:32:27
    rather oh well my house is haunted or i
  • 00:32:29
    saw the hope diamond or i touched the
  • 00:32:30
    hope diamond or you know there's always
  • 00:32:32
    some kind of excuse and i guarantee that
  • 00:32:34
    in every circumstance where miss fortune
  • 00:32:36
    befalls the people in the story of the
  • 00:32:37
    hope diamond
  • 00:32:39
    i bet poor choices had been made
  • 00:32:42
    yeah
  • 00:32:43
    in the hope diamonds history up until
  • 00:32:45
    now it had been a lot of things to do
  • 00:32:48
    with money
  • 00:32:49
    um companies losing money people losing
  • 00:32:52
    fortunes kings you know the french
  • 00:32:54
    revolution was kind of about money like
  • 00:32:56
    you have like these kings and queens who
  • 00:32:58
    are living in total luxury and people
  • 00:33:01
    are starving in the streets so yeah yeah
  • 00:33:03
    it is it's interesting and interesting
  • 00:33:05
    so
  • 00:33:06
    so everything prior to this with the
  • 00:33:08
    hope diamond seems to kind of take a
  • 00:33:10
    dark influence on money but when it
  • 00:33:14
    comes to
  • 00:33:15
    poor vivacious evelyn
  • 00:33:18
    the hope diamond
  • 00:33:20
    seems to have an effect on life
  • 00:33:23
    uh in terms that it brings death into
  • 00:33:26
    her
  • 00:33:26
    world
  • 00:33:28
    um her nine-year-old son is hit by a car
  • 00:33:31
    and dies
  • 00:33:33
    um her husband divorced her in 1932 and
  • 00:33:37
    then her husband went insane and was
  • 00:33:39
    committed to a psychic psychiatric
  • 00:33:41
    hospital the next year and he stayed
  • 00:33:43
    there until he died
  • 00:33:45
    eight years later
  • 00:33:46
    um
  • 00:33:48
    and i think i forgot to write this down
  • 00:33:51
    in my notes but her daughter actually
  • 00:33:53
    also died fairly young in her twenties
  • 00:33:56
    of an accidental drug overdose
  • 00:33:59
    um
  • 00:34:00
    really what year would that have been
  • 00:34:02
    uh it was
  • 00:34:04
    uh it was towards the end of evelyn's
  • 00:34:07
    life but her daughter actually had like
  • 00:34:10
    a cold or something and she accidentally
  • 00:34:13
    took too much of her prescribed medicine
  • 00:34:16
    oh my gosh and passed away in her sleep
  • 00:34:19
    when she was like 27 28. i think i
  • 00:34:22
    forgot to write that in the notes um
  • 00:34:25
    interesting i told you i wasn't going to
  • 00:34:26
    go off script that i love to stick to a
  • 00:34:28
    script but i forgot a death
  • 00:34:31
    sorry evelyn there were just so many you
  • 00:34:33
    poor there were so many deaths how are
  • 00:34:35
    we supposed to keep track of them yes so
  • 00:34:37
    while evelyn is in possession of the
  • 00:34:39
    hope diamond she loses her son her
  • 00:34:42
    marriage her husband
  • 00:34:44
    and her daughter wow um
  • 00:34:47
    but evelyn actually wrote an
  • 00:34:48
    autobiography which is where we get a
  • 00:34:50
    lot of the more humorous anecdotes about
  • 00:34:53
    her antics with the stone as well as a
  • 00:34:55
    timeline of her deeper tragedies
  • 00:34:58
    and she speaks of the hope diamond and
  • 00:35:00
    ponders the possible curse and here is a
  • 00:35:03
    direct quote from her book and she
  • 00:35:04
    called her book father struck it rich
  • 00:35:08
    and the quote from her book is
  • 00:35:10
    for hours the jewel stared at me and at
  • 00:35:14
    some time during the night i began to
  • 00:35:16
    really want the thing
  • 00:35:18
    then i put the chain around my neck and
  • 00:35:21
    hooked my life to its destiny for good
  • 00:35:24
    or evil
  • 00:35:26
    what tragedies have befallen me might
  • 00:35:28
    have occurred had i never seen or
  • 00:35:30
    touched the hope diamond my observations
  • 00:35:33
    have persuaded me that tragedies for
  • 00:35:35
    anyone who lives are not escapable
  • 00:35:38
    end quote
  • 00:35:40
    wow
  • 00:35:42
    yeah that's cool
  • 00:35:45
    so i know this podcast isn't about jade
  • 00:35:48
    uh and and i i do talk about jade a lot
  • 00:35:52
    maybe a little bit too much slide is
  • 00:35:54
    lovely jade is lovely i love girl don't
  • 00:35:56
    get me started i love jade but
  • 00:35:59
    that that quote that doesn't sound
  • 00:36:01
    unlike emperor cheon long's view of jade
  • 00:36:05
    in in in his case jadeite during the
  • 00:36:08
    qing dynasty uh he was crazier than her
  • 00:36:11
    for sure and i mean she sounds
  • 00:36:12
    she sounds like her that she slid off
  • 00:36:14
    her cracker a little bit but he was like
  • 00:36:16
    way far past that but
  • 00:36:18
    he felt very connected to his jade to
  • 00:36:21
    the point of extreme obsession
  • 00:36:25
    yeah it's fascinating how people can
  • 00:36:27
    bond to material objects
  • 00:36:31
    um
  • 00:36:32
    and i think gemstones bring out that
  • 00:36:34
    inclination in people more than a lot of
  • 00:36:36
    other things
  • 00:36:37
    um
  • 00:36:38
    evelyn at the time of writing her book
  • 00:36:41
    in 1936 she may have thought perhaps
  • 00:36:44
    this was all just sad random happenings
  • 00:36:46
    oh i did write it down but when her only
  • 00:36:49
    daughter accidentally died of a sleeping
  • 00:36:50
    pill overdose in 1946 evelyn she might
  • 00:36:54
    finally have thought
  • 00:36:55
    this is a curse
  • 00:36:58
    so her daughter died after she wrote the
  • 00:36:59
    book so i don't know if that would have
  • 00:37:02
    colored her perspective on the curse
  • 00:37:05
    we don't know any more of evelyn's
  • 00:37:07
    thoughts about this i wish we had more
  • 00:37:09
    but she died of pneumonia seven months
  • 00:37:12
    after her daughter passed
  • 00:37:14
    so
  • 00:37:16
    um
  • 00:37:17
    some people think that evelyn actually
  • 00:37:20
    always believed in the curse but she
  • 00:37:22
    made light of it in public so not to
  • 00:37:25
    concern others
  • 00:37:26
    sure
  • 00:37:27
    she
  • 00:37:29
    yeah and there's the thought that she
  • 00:37:30
    actually
  • 00:37:32
    wore the diamond as much as possible on
  • 00:37:34
    her own person to protect others from
  • 00:37:37
    being exposed to bad luck
  • 00:37:40
    like
  • 00:37:41
    she was the keeper of the doom
  • 00:37:44
    keeping the diamond's curse contained to
  • 00:37:47
    only one
  • 00:37:48
    person to like only poison her life a
  • 00:37:52
    psychologist would have a field day with
  • 00:37:54
    her because you think like was she
  • 00:37:56
    controlling of it was it like a
  • 00:37:58
    narcissistic thing was it for concern
  • 00:38:01
    for other people like oh well if it
  • 00:38:02
    curses me it won't curse others like
  • 00:38:05
    some people some people want to be
  • 00:38:06
    cursed you know some people
  • 00:38:08
    want bad things to happen to them
  • 00:38:10
    because then they're a spectacle then
  • 00:38:11
    they're the talk of the town so it's i
  • 00:38:14
    would love
  • 00:38:15
    to have more insight into her mind and
  • 00:38:17
    her motivations for this
  • 00:38:20
    yeah it i
  • 00:38:22
    it i mean she was the longest known
  • 00:38:24
    owner of the diamond um she certainly
  • 00:38:26
    could have gotten rid of it at any time
  • 00:38:28
    but she never did
  • 00:38:30
    um after she died the hope diamond was
  • 00:38:33
    found in a shoe box under her bed along
  • 00:38:36
    with about four million dollars in other
  • 00:38:38
    gemstones gosh that's amazing
  • 00:38:42
    um
  • 00:38:43
    after evelyn's death her estate sold the
  • 00:38:46
    hope diamond to a mr harry winston one
  • 00:38:48
    of the most famous high jewelers ever
  • 00:38:51
    and in 1958 winston decided to donate it
  • 00:38:55
    to the national museum of natural
  • 00:38:57
    history which today we know is the
  • 00:38:58
    smithsonian
  • 00:39:00
    and he sent the hope diamond in the mail
  • 00:39:03
    i mean it was technically registered
  • 00:39:05
    mail but still i'm i'm pretty sure they
  • 00:39:08
    walked it down the street right like i
  • 00:39:09
    think it was like a huge deal and people
  • 00:39:11
    came out to watch
  • 00:39:13
    uh yeah he mailed it from new york
  • 00:39:15
    down to washington dc so it had to go
  • 00:39:18
    aways um
  • 00:39:20
    it just went through the post service he
  • 00:39:22
    insured the box for one million dollars
  • 00:39:24
    which cost
  • 00:39:27
    and mr winston
  • 00:39:27
    cents postage
  • 00:39:29
    off post office oh my gosh
  • 00:39:31
    and today the diamond is insured for 250
  • 00:39:35
    million
  • 00:39:36
    have you have you been to the
  • 00:39:38
    smithsonian i'm sorry have you been to
  • 00:39:40
    the smithsonian i've never been
  • 00:39:42
    my husband and i are planning a trip
  • 00:39:44
    this summer um
  • 00:39:45
    so we're very very excited so are you
  • 00:39:48
    going is it because you want to see the
  • 00:39:50
    hope diamond
  • 00:39:51
    oh i want to like
  • 00:39:53
    change my address and move into the hall
  • 00:39:56
    of gems at the smithsonian like forward
  • 00:39:58
    all my mail i live here now
  • 00:40:02
    so he wants to do the air and space
  • 00:40:04
    portion of the smithsonian and i'm going
  • 00:40:05
    to do the gem portion and
  • 00:40:08
    we're just going to be very very happy
  • 00:40:10
    nerds
  • 00:40:11
    that's so cool
  • 00:40:14
    so the hopefully the hope diamond will
  • 00:40:15
    be there the hope it very rarely leaves
  • 00:40:17
    the smithsonian i think it's left
  • 00:40:20
    four times in its total history for like
  • 00:40:22
    little tours or to go other places but
  • 00:40:24
    it stays put i don't know one of the
  • 00:40:27
    times
  • 00:40:28
    the guy who took it i think he was like
  • 00:40:29
    the curator of the smithsonian at the
  • 00:40:31
    time he put it in his pocket and he
  • 00:40:32
    hopped on a plane to take it to
  • 00:40:35
    i think it was the louvre because the
  • 00:40:36
    louvre had part of the golden fleece and
  • 00:40:39
    they wanted to reunite
  • 00:40:41
    the hope diamond which had been the
  • 00:40:44
    was it the french blue when it was in
  • 00:40:45
    the golden fleece yeah so the golden
  • 00:40:47
    fleece is a famous brooch basically and
  • 00:40:51
    that the king of france commissioned to
  • 00:40:53
    honor the myth of jason and the golden
  • 00:40:56
    fleece and so it was this huge kind of
  • 00:40:59
    i believe it's like a ruby amethyst
  • 00:41:00
    portion at the top and then the huge
  • 00:41:02
    triangle of the french blue and then
  • 00:41:04
    there was a big golden lamb hanging it
  • 00:41:07
    was like this giant brooch that you
  • 00:41:09
    would pin on the front of your chest and
  • 00:41:10
    it was very spectacular way to wear the
  • 00:41:13
    french blue diamond
  • 00:41:15
    and so it was reunited like i think not
  • 00:41:17
    that long ago like maybe
  • 00:41:19
    probably within my lifetime i think they
  • 00:41:21
    they took the hope diamond no no it
  • 00:41:23
    would have been before that because and
  • 00:41:24
    i remember this because
  • 00:41:26
    jackie kennedy was the one who requested
  • 00:41:30
    that the hope diamond i believe
  • 00:41:32
    be sent on temporary leave to the louvre
  • 00:41:35
    and um there's actually photos of jackie
  • 00:41:37
    o like in the smithsonian
  • 00:41:40
    talking with the curators because the
  • 00:41:42
    curators didn't want to send it like it
  • 00:41:44
    was it was so dangerous and so basically
  • 00:41:46
    the the head curator or whoever it was
  • 00:41:49
    he
  • 00:41:49
    he was like well i'll take it and he put
  • 00:41:51
    it in his pocket and then on his way to
  • 00:41:54
    the louvre like everything that could
  • 00:41:56
    possibly go wrong happened like i think
  • 00:41:58
    his taxi got in a car accident and his
  • 00:42:01
    plane had an emergency landing and i
  • 00:42:04
    mean it was like one thing after another
  • 00:42:06
    and so it was just like
  • 00:42:06
    [Laughter]
  • 00:42:08
    it was just like really unsettling for
  • 00:42:10
    this man to go on this adventure from dc
  • 00:42:13
    to paris with this
  • 00:42:16
    you know i think at the time i i think
  • 00:42:18
    that's what i think where it's like when
  • 00:42:20
    you talk about the history of the hope
  • 00:42:21
    diamond where it's like how much time do
  • 00:42:22
    you have because i feel like we could
  • 00:42:24
    probably do an entire podcast episode of
  • 00:42:26
    the saga of the hope diamond trying to
  • 00:42:28
    go to france yes
  • 00:42:30
    any any poor adventure
  • 00:42:32
    yeah any portion of its history could be
  • 00:42:35
    extrapolated out to
  • 00:42:37
    a thousand details um
  • 00:42:40
    yes it's just a stone it's a stone that
  • 00:42:43
    attracts history things just seem to
  • 00:42:45
    happen to it around it near it because
  • 00:42:48
    of it
  • 00:42:49
    um
  • 00:42:50
    it is yeah um
  • 00:42:54
    yeah but i'm gonna go and i'm gonna see
  • 00:42:55
    it
  • 00:42:56
    yes i wish i could go i would love to go
  • 00:42:58
    someday i mean i'd touch it if they
  • 00:43:00
    would let me and just really i'm going
  • 00:43:02
    to test this curse theory
  • 00:43:06
    i'll facetime you
  • 00:43:07
    oh yes that sounds good then we'll both
  • 00:43:09
    get cursed i think i think that's how it
  • 00:43:10
    works because yeah when when the
  • 00:43:12
    smithsonian received the hope diamond
  • 00:43:14
    they actually received letters from the
  • 00:43:16
    american people like begging them like
  • 00:43:18
    don't accept this diamond it'll bring a
  • 00:43:20
    curse upon the whole nation and they
  • 00:43:22
    said that
  • 00:43:23
    people would go and take photos of it
  • 00:43:25
    through the glass and then they would be
  • 00:43:26
    cursed you know they'd go home and
  • 00:43:27
    whatever their cat would die and
  • 00:43:29
    i mean i don't know so if i facetime you
  • 00:43:32
    in front of the hope diamond i guess
  • 00:43:33
    we'll find out if a curse can go through
  • 00:43:35
    5g
  • 00:43:37
    [Laughter]
  • 00:43:38
    i mean it's it's fascinating
  • 00:43:41
    but like
  • 00:43:43
    i don't know if they thought the
  • 00:43:44
    packaging was cursed and they wanted to
  • 00:43:46
    keep it contained as well
  • 00:43:48
    but the original brown paper box
  • 00:43:51
    uh that harry winston used to mail the
  • 00:43:54
    diamond to the museum that's actually
  • 00:43:56
    the box is on display at the smithsonian
  • 00:43:59
    national postage museum
  • 00:44:01
    somebody had mentioned in a podcast once
  • 00:44:03
    or somebody told me i'd heard this story
  • 00:44:05
    that
  • 00:44:06
    that box had actually sat on the
  • 00:44:07
    curator's desk for like a week or two
  • 00:44:10
    and it didn't open it when they first
  • 00:44:12
    got it have you heard this story i
  • 00:44:14
    haven't that literally like they
  • 00:44:16
    received it as a big deal it was in the
  • 00:44:18
    news and then they were just kind of too
  • 00:44:19
    busy for it and so they they set the
  • 00:44:20
    package down on the desk and
  • 00:44:22
    maybe they did it when they got to it
  • 00:44:24
    maybe they had to paper rock scissors
  • 00:44:26
    for who wanted to open it
  • 00:44:28
    oh
  • 00:44:29
    i bet that's what it was gonna let that
  • 00:44:32
    thing out
  • 00:44:33
    uh but i don't know i mean the the
  • 00:44:35
    postal service does not have the most
  • 00:44:37
    stellar reputation for timeliness and
  • 00:44:40
    care with your packages i wonder
  • 00:44:42
    if
  • 00:44:43
    because
  • 00:44:44
    is it too is it two is it too big a jump
  • 00:44:47
    to say that because the postal service
  • 00:44:49
    touched the hope diamond all the way
  • 00:44:51
    through the mail that's why they have a
  • 00:44:52
    bad reputation now that just explains
  • 00:44:55
    everything
  • 00:44:57
    i mean i i would i would love to deny
  • 00:44:59
    their accountability i think that would
  • 00:45:01
    restore my my hope and humanity but um
  • 00:45:04
    we actually have records of the postman
  • 00:45:06
    who delivered it and his name was todd
  • 00:45:08
    everybody affectionately calls him
  • 00:45:10
    postman todd in their stories and um as
  • 00:45:13
    far as i know he lived a long life he
  • 00:45:15
    lived to be 68 and for the most part i i
  • 00:45:18
    think lived a normal uncursed life and
  • 00:45:21
    uh and then you know the smithsonian
  • 00:45:23
    sense has has certainly not seemed
  • 00:45:25
    cursed yeah i i find it incredibly
  • 00:45:28
    amusing that it's almost like contact
  • 00:45:31
    tracing
  • 00:45:32
    um like if you did this web that follows
  • 00:45:35
    did you touch the hope diamond and we
  • 00:45:37
    even know all the way down
  • 00:45:39
    to tracking the lifespan of the postman
  • 00:45:42
    who delivered it to the museum because
  • 00:45:45
    but
  • 00:45:46
    uh i mean
  • 00:45:48
    so this this stone has a reputation um
  • 00:45:52
    and maybe evelyn succeeded in her goal
  • 00:45:55
    of keeping the curse within herself
  • 00:45:57
    because you're so right jordan the
  • 00:45:59
    smithsonian museum certainly hasn't been
  • 00:46:01
    on a downward spiral since taking
  • 00:46:03
    ownership of the hope diamond it's one
  • 00:46:05
    of the most popular exhibits in the
  • 00:46:07
    entire museum
  • 00:46:08
    and harry winston's donation inspired
  • 00:46:11
    others to contribute amazing gemstones
  • 00:46:14
    to the museum
  • 00:46:16
    curator jeff post
  • 00:46:18
    he actually just wrote a book called
  • 00:46:20
    unearthed i have it it
  • 00:46:22
    details out all the different stones in
  • 00:46:25
    the exhibit
  • 00:46:27
    it's a wonderful book it's on amazon
  • 00:46:29
    it's like 18 bucks highly recommend
  • 00:46:32
    but curator jeff post he wrote quote
  • 00:46:35
    since the arrival of the hope diamond
  • 00:46:37
    the national gym collection has grown
  • 00:46:39
    steadily in size and stature and is
  • 00:46:42
    today considered by many to be the
  • 00:46:44
    finest public display of gems in the
  • 00:46:46
    world for the smithsonian the hope
  • 00:46:48
    diamond has obviously been a source of
  • 00:46:51
    good luck
  • 00:46:52
    end quote
  • 00:46:53
    that's for
  • 00:46:56
    i mean he just put that that thumbs up
  • 00:46:58
    right on it and i mean but the diamond
  • 00:47:01
    being in the museum rather than in a
  • 00:47:03
    shoe box under evelynn's bed uh means
  • 00:47:05
    that gemologists have gotten a chance to
  • 00:47:07
    study this natural phenomenon like never
  • 00:47:10
    before and we talked about it a little
  • 00:47:12
    bit that it can do those cool tricks
  • 00:47:14
    like
  • 00:47:15
    like glowing red
  • 00:47:17
    yeah i had a party trick that impressive
  • 00:47:20
    all i have is my little uv light
  • 00:47:22
    i need to get one
  • 00:47:25
    they're cool
  • 00:47:26
    right yes sorry lit small tangent
  • 00:47:28
    i have the uv pen light where it has
  • 00:47:30
    three settings and so you click through
  • 00:47:32
    it so you can have the yellow light and
  • 00:47:33
    then you click it you have the white
  • 00:47:34
    light and you can have the uv light and
  • 00:47:36
    for gem buying it is fantastic but
  • 00:47:38
    extremely hard to find so i need to put
  • 00:47:40
    a link you know what guys i'll put a
  • 00:47:42
    link on my show notes page for that
  • 00:47:44
    exact thing and a link for the book for
  • 00:47:46
    unearthed is that what she said it was
  • 00:47:47
    called unearthed yes um jeff post wrote
  • 00:47:49
    a book and it's called unearthed and it
  • 00:47:51
    details everything about the smithsonian
  • 00:47:54
    gym collection and in the back of the
  • 00:47:56
    book
  • 00:47:57
    triple the length of pages dedicated to
  • 00:47:59
    any other stone it talks about the hope
  • 00:48:01
    diamond yes i'll definitely include that
  • 00:48:04
    link everybody so keep an eye out for it
  • 00:48:06
    now back to the hope diamond um yeah i
  • 00:48:08
    mean as far as the smithsonian's
  • 00:48:10
    perspective on it i really admire that
  • 00:48:12
    they've promoted the positivity of the
  • 00:48:14
    hope diamond um
  • 00:48:16
    the curse mythology you know i feel like
  • 00:48:19
    i feel like that
  • 00:48:20
    actually calling it a curse and
  • 00:48:22
    spreading that information probably
  • 00:48:24
    started you know with the media and with
  • 00:48:26
    cartier you know in that sales pitch to
  • 00:48:28
    evelyn mclean who was it pretty much
  • 00:48:30
    like the paris hilton of the 1910s let's
  • 00:48:33
    be real cartier's exciting tale was
  • 00:48:36
    recorded by evelyn in her diary and a
  • 00:48:39
    lot of those excerpts actually made
  • 00:48:41
    their way into newspapers when talks
  • 00:48:43
    began about donating the gem to the
  • 00:48:44
    smithsonian and keep in mind this is
  • 00:48:45
    years later because i think did the did
  • 00:48:47
    the hope diamond come to the smithsonian
  • 00:48:49
    in the 50s was it like 1952
  • 00:48:52
    you're just putting me on the spot
  • 00:48:55
    it was i think it was the it's about
  • 00:48:57
    that time it was harry winston i mean
  • 00:48:59
    that would it would probably be around
  • 00:49:01
    then so you know this myth would kind of
  • 00:49:03
    resurface when it when people knew it
  • 00:49:06
    would sell newspapers right mm-hmm and
  • 00:49:08
    yeah richard
  • 00:49:09
    it's like a story it's a good story it's
  • 00:49:12
    a great story it's fascinating and i
  • 00:49:14
    think it entrances people
  • 00:49:17
    muggles i call them uh non-gem folk
  • 00:49:21
    even if you're not in the jewelry
  • 00:49:23
    industry you're still really fascinated
  • 00:49:25
    by the diamond
  • 00:49:26
    [Laughter]
  • 00:49:28
    and you know i think richard curran also
  • 00:49:30
    makes mention of that he wrote a book
  • 00:49:32
    richard kern works for the smithsonian
  • 00:49:34
    or did at the time that the book was
  • 00:49:35
    published and uh he has an incredible
  • 00:49:38
    book on the hope diamond which i'll also
  • 00:49:40
    include a link for in the show notes
  • 00:49:41
    where he broke down three categories of
  • 00:49:44
    people who had interacted with the stone
  • 00:49:46
    so people who were definite owners
  • 00:49:49
    people who were posit like possible
  • 00:49:50
    owners and then close family members who
  • 00:49:53
    would have been associated with the
  • 00:49:55
    diamond
  • 00:49:56
    um and then he he correlated all that
  • 00:49:59
    information with their the age of death
  • 00:50:02
    for each of these people
  • 00:50:03
    this man put in some work because he
  • 00:50:05
    would have looked at like a timeline of
  • 00:50:07
    every single person who would have
  • 00:50:08
    interacted with the stone and the
  • 00:50:10
    average lifespan of owners of the hope
  • 00:50:13
    diamond is a bit more than 68 years old
  • 00:50:17
    the average lifespan of possible owners
  • 00:50:19
    and stewards he called it was 72 years
  • 00:50:23
    old so premature death overall
  • 00:50:26
    it
  • 00:50:27
    isn't really associated with the hope
  • 00:50:30
    diamond which i think is a hilarious
  • 00:50:32
    fact to know
  • 00:50:33
    like i love that he actually sat down
  • 00:50:35
    and did the math
  • 00:50:36
    but i think that the real story of the
  • 00:50:39
    hope diamonds
  • 00:50:41
    putting aside the fantasy and the the
  • 00:50:43
    hindu god's eye and the you know
  • 00:50:46
    the curse stuff i think the real story
  • 00:50:48
    is much more interesting than the
  • 00:50:50
    fantastical story of cartier sales pitch
  • 00:50:53
    i think
  • 00:50:54
    i think it's a it's a it's so closely
  • 00:50:56
    intertwined with history and i love
  • 00:50:58
    european history and i love american
  • 00:51:00
    history and so you you see
  • 00:51:01
    so many important characters like marie
  • 00:51:03
    antoinette and
  • 00:51:04
    king louis and like all these people are
  • 00:51:06
    in this story of the hope diamond i
  • 00:51:09
    think there's ample evidence that it
  • 00:51:11
    probably isn't cursed which which lends
  • 00:51:14
    credibility to the anthropological
  • 00:51:15
    observations surrounding the hope
  • 00:51:18
    diamond i think people want to believe
  • 00:51:19
    in the curse i think they love it i
  • 00:51:21
    think it's the reason it's the most
  • 00:51:22
    famous diamond in the world um there are
  • 00:51:24
    diamonds that are bigger you know there
  • 00:51:25
    are diamonds that are more valuable but
  • 00:51:27
    i don't believe any diamond is more well
  • 00:51:30
    known than the hope diamond they say any
  • 00:51:32
    other blue diamond of this size and
  • 00:51:34
    color would be valued around 40 million
  • 00:51:36
    or so but the hope diamond's current
  • 00:51:37
    estimate stands at would you say 250
  • 00:51:39
    million 350 million 200 and yeah it it
  • 00:51:43
    varies but it's high
  • 00:51:45
    but it's because it has a story you know
  • 00:51:47
    that's where that value comes from is
  • 00:51:48
    the story which is kind of true for all
  • 00:51:51
    jewelry isn't it
  • 00:51:53
    i i couldn't help myself i had to look
  • 00:51:56
    it up so the date that harry winston
  • 00:51:57
    donated the diamond was 1958.
  • 00:52:00
    58 i was so close i said 52. it was 58
  • 00:52:03
    everybody 58. i couldn't let that it
  • 00:52:07
    would it would make my eyes start to
  • 00:52:08
    twitch if i didn't look it up
  • 00:52:11
    um
  • 00:52:12
    and i i agree with everything that
  • 00:52:14
    you've said um
  • 00:52:16
    it's like with each his with each
  • 00:52:18
    fascinating
  • 00:52:20
    historical event that happened to the
  • 00:52:22
    diamond it just like adds 10 million
  • 00:52:24
    dollars to the value
  • 00:52:26
    and it just stacks up uh but this stone
  • 00:52:30
    i mean after everything the hope diamond
  • 00:52:32
    has been through i like to think that it
  • 00:52:34
    is enjoying retirement
  • 00:52:37
    at the smithsonian
  • 00:52:40
    if we're going to put personification
  • 00:52:42
    upon the stone i think it is tired
  • 00:52:45
    it must be a great relief after being
  • 00:52:48
    stolen looted worn by everyone from
  • 00:52:51
    kings to dogs pawned shut up in vaults
  • 00:52:54
    sold sold sold and sold
  • 00:52:57
    uh to just sit nicely on a blue velvet
  • 00:53:01
    pillow
  • 00:53:02
    all day long not being bothered
  • 00:53:05
    seems peaceful
  • 00:53:08
    um
  • 00:53:09
    that's not to say it isn't cursed
  • 00:53:11
    because on the subject of bad juju i
  • 00:53:13
    mean
  • 00:53:15
    the hope diamond is displayed behind
  • 00:53:17
    multiple layers of bulletproof glass
  • 00:53:20
    that should be enough
  • 00:53:22
    to contain any curse no bad vibes can
  • 00:53:25
    escape it can only bring joy and
  • 00:53:28
    pleasure to those who come to look at it
  • 00:53:30
    yes i love that that's yes that's so
  • 00:53:33
    sweet and wholesome what a wholesome
  • 00:53:35
    look at
  • 00:53:37
    what is possibly the most devastating
  • 00:53:39
    some of the most devastating events in
  • 00:53:40
    history i don't want to make it mad i'm
  • 00:53:43
    sure it knows i'm sure it's ears are
  • 00:53:46
    burning it knows we're talking about it
  • 00:53:49
    i'm going to see it it will remember me
  • 00:53:51
    it will remember it's gonna be like you
  • 00:53:53
    did a podcast
  • 00:53:56
    well i do hope that you facetime me when
  • 00:53:57
    you go we'll see if i get cursed well
  • 00:54:01
    i do want to take the chance jennifer to
  • 00:54:03
    talk about
  • 00:54:05
    um your podcast before we wrap up we are
  • 00:54:07
    at
  • 00:54:08
    we are at 40 54 minutes did you know
  • 00:54:10
    that
  • 00:54:11
    oh goodness i'm sorry everyone is anyone
  • 00:54:14
    is anyone still here
  • 00:54:16
    can you hear me
  • 00:54:17
    no i love it i love it so um
  • 00:54:21
    it's just it's just such a phenomenal
  • 00:54:22
    story about the hope diamond and i feel
  • 00:54:23
    like we could just go on forever but i
  • 00:54:26
    do want to
  • 00:54:28
    draw attention to tea and gemstones
  • 00:54:30
    jennifer's incredible gemology podcast
  • 00:54:33
    jennifer can you just kind of tell
  • 00:54:34
    people give them an idea of the type of
  • 00:54:37
    subject matter that they can hear on
  • 00:54:38
    your podcast
  • 00:54:40
    uh sure
  • 00:54:42
    i can happily do that um
  • 00:54:44
    so
  • 00:54:46
    it's sending her notes i can see it
  • 00:54:48
    [Laughter]
  • 00:54:50
    it's where i'm comfortable let me assume
  • 00:54:52
    my safety net position
  • 00:54:54
    uh tea and gemstones is this podcast
  • 00:54:58
    where it's just for talking about
  • 00:55:00
    anything and everything to do with
  • 00:55:02
    jewelry gemstones precious metals we
  • 00:55:04
    talk history fashion science and culture
  • 00:55:08
    we dive into all the little details
  • 00:55:10
    because that's where i believe a lot of
  • 00:55:13
    the beauty and the joy is uh so i just
  • 00:55:16
    think it's fun to talk about the little
  • 00:55:18
    things that maybe we just don't think
  • 00:55:20
    about in everyday life like
  • 00:55:22
    diving into the history of the hope
  • 00:55:24
    diamond for an hour
  • 00:55:25
    that's a wonderful escape for me uh so i
  • 00:55:28
    just that's where my podcast is they're
  • 00:55:30
    just little sparkly escapes
  • 00:55:32
    it's the most fun everybody should
  • 00:55:34
    listen to it jennifer has done a series
  • 00:55:37
    on the history of gold
  • 00:55:39
    which i'll admit i'm saving them this is
  • 00:55:42
    how crazy i am i love the podcast like
  • 00:55:44
    i'm saving them and so when we drive to
  • 00:55:46
    tucson for the gem show i'm gonna like
  • 00:55:49
    binge the history of gold
  • 00:55:52
    like i've been waiting like i keep
  • 00:55:53
    looking at it and being like no this is
  • 00:55:55
    special i'm gonna wait but she covers
  • 00:55:58
    some really fascinating topics i mean
  • 00:56:00
    just like okay um the royal family and
  • 00:56:02
    their jewels she's talked about all
  • 00:56:04
    kinds of i can't now that i'm on the
  • 00:56:06
    spot i can't list them all but
  • 00:56:08
    if you're interested in marie antoinette
  • 00:56:10
    i have an entire episode about the
  • 00:56:12
    affair of the diamond necklace which
  • 00:56:14
    talks about a 15 million diamond
  • 00:56:17
    necklace and how it may or may not have
  • 00:56:19
    contributed to the start of the french
  • 00:56:20
    revolution poor french family in their
  • 00:56:23
    gems they should have just not owned any
  • 00:56:25
    of them at all
  • 00:56:26
    i think that was the opinion of the
  • 00:56:27
    french people i'm pretty sure that's why
  • 00:56:29
    the revolution started touche
  • 00:56:33
    wonderful
  • 00:56:35
    we will not write that down
  • 00:56:37
    right
  • 00:56:38
    well it's a fascinating podcast i
  • 00:56:40
    encourage everyone to listen to it and
  • 00:56:43
    uh jennifer how can people reach you how
  • 00:56:45
    can they reach out to you and learn more
  • 00:56:47
    about you and your
  • 00:56:49
    podcast
  • 00:56:50
    oh i try to be everywhere
  • 00:56:52
    uh
  • 00:56:53
    so you can find the podcast on spotify
  • 00:56:56
    pandora apple um buzz sprout i have
  • 00:57:00
    paid for what they call mass
  • 00:57:02
    distribution so if you type tea and
  • 00:57:04
    gemstones anywhere that you listen to
  • 00:57:06
    anything i should pop up
  • 00:57:08
    and if i don't find us on instagram at
  • 00:57:11
    tea and gemstones and tell me where i'm
  • 00:57:12
    not so i can be there
  • 00:57:15
    awesome well jennifer thank you so much
  • 00:57:17
    for joining us today i appreciate you
  • 00:57:19
    coming on and sharing your wisdom and i
  • 00:57:22
    look forward to listening to your
  • 00:57:24
    podcast episodes in the future
タグ
  • Hope Diamond
  • Curse
  • Gemstones
  • Jennifer Siverling
  • Smithsonian
  • History
  • Jewelry
  • Blue Diamond
  • Mystical Properties