Where was the "French Sapphire" discovered?

The so-called ominous sapphire is the breathtakingly beautiful blue diamond - the "Star of Hope". Louis XIV called this gem the "French Sapphire". For the next 125 years, this blue diamond has been regarded as the royal treasure of France. Rumor has it that this diamond is not only beautiful, but also seems to emit an ominous light that will end badly for anyone who owns it.

This diamond was found in southwestern India in 1642 by the French explorer Tavimir. When it was first discovered, it weighed 112 carats. Tavimir dedicated it to Louis XIV, the then King of France, and received an official position and a large sum of money as a reward.

But unfortunately, Tavimir’s property was spent by his son, leaving him penniless when he reached the age of 80, and he had to go to India again. Hope to seek new wealth. Eventually he was bitten to death by a wild dog in a foreign land.

Besides, after Louis XIV got the rose diamond, he showed it off everywhere. During this period, it was borrowed once by Minister Fouquet. Not long after, Fouquet was arrested for corruption and died in prison; Louis XIV himself also died in the disgrace of the people due to a mutiny that led to the collapse of the empire. Later, the diamond was passed on to Louis XVI and Queen Marianne. The fate of the same two people was not much better. They were guillotined not long after they succeeded to the throne.

Later, the French Revolution occurred, and the diamond disappeared during the turmoil for nearly forty years. After several twists and turns, it fell into the hands of Prince Konitovsky of Russia. The prince gave it to his mistress, and later shot her to death and then committed suicide;

I don’t know how long it took, but the diamond was obtained by a Dutch diamondsmith, who took it It was reworked and divided into 44.52 carats. As a result, his son stole the diamond from him, and the diamondsmith committed suicide in anger.

In 1830, this diamond was bought by banker Hope for 18,000 pounds. From then on, the blue diamond was named "Hope" after its new owner. Since Hope in English means hope, the diamond is also called "Hope". The banker Hope never married. He passed the blue diamond to his grandson (on the condition that he change his surname to Hope). The new owner of the diamond later married an American actress named Yossi. Soon, Little Hope went bankrupt and Yossi divorced him. Yossi died in Boston, USA in 1940. She was destitute in her later years and often complained that the "hope" of the rose blue diamond brought her hard luck. In 1906, Little Hope was forced to sell the blue diamond "Hope" to pay off debts. In the following two years, the rose diamond was resold many times.

In 1908, Turkish Sultan Hamid II saw it as his own for $400,000. It is said that when the businessman who handled the deal was taking his wife and children out, their car rolled over the cliff and the whole family was killed. The blue diamond "Hope" was worn by the Sultan in the Turkish court as a reward to his confidant Zubid. Soon after, Zubid was executed by the Sultan. By this time, the diamond's ominous reputation had spread like wildfire, but one wealthy American businessman, MacLean, did not believe it. He bought the diamond for $154,000 and brought it to the United States. Soon his youngest son Winterson was hit by a car and died. McClain himself became mentally ill due to bankruptcy and died in the hospital. His wife, Evelyn, was addicted to drugs, and his daughter died of an overdose.

Finally, American jeweler Winston bought the diamond from a descendant of the MacLean family and then donated it to the Smith Museum in Washington. He was the only one who got the diamond without suffering any disaster from it. To this day, this diamond is still stored in the Smith Museum and has become a specimen for scientific research.