Cursed Gemstones

The Delhi Purple Sapphire:
Was "trebly accursed and is stained with the blood, and the dishonor of everyone who has ever owned it," according to Edward Heron-Allen, a scientist, friend of Oscar Wilde and the last owner of the jewel.

The Delhi Purple Sapphire, actually an amethyst, was willed to the London Natural History Museum in 1943 by Heron-Allen. Supposedly he was so concerned about the curse of bad luck and tragedy surrounding the gem that he sealed it with protective charms in seven boxes.

Heron-Allen’s last words on the jewel: "Whoever shall then open it, shall first read out this warning, and then do as he pleases with the jewel. My advice to him or her is to cast it into the sea." The sapphire was only discovered again more than three decades ago though the discovery was kept quiet due to the supposed curse. Supposedly Heron-Allen, a scholar in his own right, knew what he was talking about. His descendants would never touch the jewel and knew well the story of the cursed amethyst.

According to the Heron-Allen family, the Delhi Purple Sapphire had been brought to the United Kingdom by a Bengal cavalryman Colonel W. Ferris. He had recovered the amethyst in India, after it had been looted from the Temple of Indra in Cawnpore during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Ferris and his son both lost all their money and their health after owning the jewel. A family friend committed suicide after possessing it for a short time.

Heron-Allen took possession of the amethyst in 1890 when he was immediately struck with bad luck and misfortune. He gave the jewel away twice – both friends were consequently fraught with disasters.

Supposedly he tried to throw the amethyst into the Regent’s Canal to be rid of the cursed jewel. The Delhi Purple Sapphire was returned to him after three months by a jeweler who purchased it from a dredger.

By 1904, he had it locked away until after his death. However, even after the amethyst passed into the hands of the museum, it is still exerting a baleful presence on any that touched the jewel.

John Whittaker, the museum’s former head of micropaleontology, took the amethyst to the first symposium of the Heron-Allen Society. He encountered the most horrific thunderstorm he had ever experienced on the way home. The night before the second annual symposium he became violently ill with stomach flu and he didn’t make the third symposium due to a sudden kidney stone.

Black Prince Ruby:
From the colour of royalty to the colour of revenge, the Black Prince’s Ruby also has a storied past. The 170-carat rough-cut spinel made its first appearance in 1367 when Don Pedro "The Cruel," King of Castile, murdered the ruby’s owner. Needing rescue from his enemies at the Battle of Nagera, Pedro gave the ruby to Edward, Prince of Wales, as payment for Edward’s help.

The La Peregrina Pearl:
The La Peregrina Pearl is a more than 200 grains natural pear-shaped pearl owned by Elizabeth Taylor. A slave supposedly found “The Pilgrim? in the early 1500s in the Gulf of Panama. 

In 1554, Prince Phillip II of Spain gave it to Mary Tudor, Queen of England, at their wedding. However, while she was enamored of the Spaniard, he was less than enthused about her or her looks and left for an extended trip to his motherland. She died four years later and the pearl went back to Phillip who went on to create an incestuous clan. La Peregrina stayed with Phillip’s heirs until the Spanish Hapsburg dynasty collapsed in 1700, a victim of generations of inbreeding.

Perhaps not the most cursed on the list, this mother of all pearls should have imparted a little wisdom instead of dumb lust to Phillip and his heirs.