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  • >> ROWE: The Hope Diamond-- a 45

  • carat violet-blue gem--

  • alluringly entices visitors from

  • its display case at the

  • Smithsonian institute.

  • But, what a long, strange trip

  • it took to get there.

  • Since the 1600s, the diamond

  • has seen kingdoms topple,

  • fortunes squandered, and

  • families torn asunder.

  • But according to legend, this

  • dazzling rock may have actually

  • caused these disastrous events.

  • >> JOE NICKELL: The earliest

  • record of it is somewhere in,

  • say, the 1640's when it

  • apparently graced the forehead

  • of a Hindu idol.

  • And someone stole it from the

  • idol and therefore, the occult

  • forces are out to get whoever

  • has it.

  • >> ROWE: Heedless of the curse,

  • French trader Jean Baptiste

  • Tavernier bought the stone, and,

  • in turn, sold it to King Louis

  • the 14th in 1668.

  • As the story goes, on

  • Tavernier's next trip to India,

  • he was torn apart by wild dogs.

  • Louis ordered the gem to be cut

  • into an oval-shaped stone that

  • he dubbed "the Blue Diamond of

  • the Crown."

  • The sun king would die a painful

  • death from gangrene... or was it

  • the curse?

  • The diamond passes on to Louis

  • the 15th, but he dies early on

  • from small pox.

  • The next Louis, the 16th, is

  • also the next owner of the

  • diamond.

  • He and his wife, Marie

  • Antoinette, literally lose their

  • heads while in possession of the

  • gem.

  • In September 1792, the crown

  • jewels are looted and the

  • diamond is stolen.

  • The stone officially resurfaces

  • in 1839, when it is listed in

  • the gem catalogue of Henry

  • Phillip Hope.

  • The Hope Diamond-- as it is

  • thereafter known-- is sold in

  • 1902 by Henry's descendant, Lord

  • Francis Hope.

  • Seems Lord Francis had frightful

  • gambling debts to pay off.

  • Eventually, The diamond is

  • purchased by Mrs. Evalyn Walsh

  • McLean in 1911 for almost

  • $184,000, or the equivalent of

  • over $3.5 million today.

  • Mrs. Mclean, a wealthy American

  • socialite, sets the diamond in a

  • necklace and frequently wears it

  • for formal functions.

  • She holds onto the stone until

  • her death, but seems to have

  • paid a heavy price.

  • >> NICKELL: A son is killed

  • being run over by a car.

  • A daughter dies of a drug

  • overdose.

  • So, this is all good fodder for

  • the idea that there's something

  • wrong with the diamond.

  • >> ROWE: The Harry Winston

  • jewelry company acquires the

  • diamond from McClean's estate

  • and donates it to the

  • Smithsonian Institute.

  • Technically, the Hope Diamond

  • now belongs to the American

  • people.

  • So, the question arises: are we

  • now all at risk of falling

  • victim to the world's most

  • cursed stone?

>> ROWE: The Hope Diamond-- a 45

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