The Hope Diamond is one of the most famous jewels in the world, with ownership records dating back almost four centuries. According to specious later accounts, the original form of the Hope Diamond was stolen from an eye of a sculpted statue of the goddess Sita, the wife of Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu. However, much like the “curse of Tutankhamun”, this general type of legend was the invention of Western authors during the Victorian era, and the specific legends about the Hope Diamond’s cursed origin were invented in the early 20th century to add mystique to the stone and increase its sales appeal.
Hope Diamond
