Story Highlights
- historical event: The most famous diamond in the world – Hope – is said to bring bad luck to its owners. The fictional diamond Heart of the Ocean in the movie Titanic was modeled after it.
The most famous diamond in the world – Hope – has a reputation for being cursed. It is said that it brings bad luck to its owners. Among its owners were Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette, who were both executed on the guillotine. Jacques Colet bought the diamond and committed suicide. Then it was bought by Prince Kanitovski, who was killed in the Russian Revolution. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, one of the owners, was torn to pieces by wild dogs. The last private owner of the diamond was the American Harry Winston, who gave it to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC on this day in 1958. Hope is 45.52-carat blue diamond. The fictional diamond Heart of the Ocean in the movie Titanic was modeled after it. People visiting Smithsonian to view the Hope Diamond are so numerous that it is the second most visited exhibit in museums worldwide after the Mona Lisa in the French Louvre.
