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The Hope Diamond's Legendary Power
by Karl Needan
http://www.flavadiamond.com
Evalyn Walsh MacLean was the last private owner of the Hope
Diamond. She died in 1947 at the age of 60, and she left
behind one of the most beautiful and well-known pieces of
jewelry known to man. This diamond had a tragic history
that appealed to the public and made headlines for many
years. It was a massive diamond of incredible
beauty and unimaginable value, but today is like any other
old lady, leading a rather uneventful existence.
Ms. MacLean's staff were unsure about how to deal with
the Hope Diamond after she died, since the diamond had such
a remarkable history and a superb value. They turned to a
friend of Ms. MacLean's, Frank Murphy, who they thought
would give them the best advice. This Mr. Murphy, in
addition to being a long-time friend of the MacLeans,
was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Judge Murphy very quickly secured the jewels in the MacLean
collection as soon as he came to Ms. MacClean's house the
night she died. He immediately left by cab, but since he
couldn't think of a safe place to put the the diamond at
twelve o'clock at night, he decided to ride around in the
cab until the banks opened in the morning.
Murphy approached a bank officer at the Riggs National Bank
that morning and requested that the entire collection be
deposited. When he gave bank officer the inventory of
what was in the sack, he didn't believe the Hope Diamond
was one of the items. So he asked for proof that it was the
Hope Diamond and when he saw for himself, he realized it
had to be. In addition, the fact that a judge of the United
States Supreme Court was the courier of this parcel, that
he had just picked it up at midnight from the MacClean
mansion, he became convinced that it most certainly must be
the famous Hope Diamond.
Riggs National Bank agreed to store the diamond, once they
accepted the responsibility of holding such an incomparable
gem. Murphy bought the gem himself, so its famous history
of intrigue continued, as since no one else seemed to
be interested in buying it. No one else seemed to want to
buy this rare gem, so he won with a sealed bid. It stayed
in his possession for several years, until Murphy donated
it to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. The magic
history of the diamond continues in this story since Murphy
transported it to the museum via the U.S. Postal Service.
Today, the Hope Diamond continues to rest in its case at
the Smithsonian, for all the world to see, a rather
anti-climactic end to a history filled with greed,
corruption, tragedy and insanity. It should be noted
however, that during the mailing processing, one
particular mail carrier who was unfortunate enough to be
charged with the delivery of the diamond was in two
separate car accidents, ultimately resulting in serious
injury. It seems that the Hope Diamond continued to wreak
havoc up until the very end, all 45 carats of her.
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