What does it take for a jewelry artifact, whether it be a single stone or a hoard of gold, to be declared “cursed”? Well, it seems the main ingredient is a populace with a very active imagination, and successive owners who are willing to carry on the legend even if they’ve escaped with all their limbs. Like all fantastically expensive objects, jewelry of the most high-end kind tends to attract theft, disagreement, political problems, and other intrigue; but that’s just a fact of its desirability. Beyond that, historically, jewelry curses are often invented aspects to give a potential buyer a little bit more flavor. (The La Peregrina Pearl owned by Elizabeth Taylor has been blamed for the fact that she married eight times, but it’s more realistic to blame that on her interpersonal skills than on a blameless bit of cultivated oyster.)
1. The Delhi Purple Sapphire
2. The Hope Diamond
3. The Lydian Hoard
4. Priam’s Treasure
5. The Koh-i-Noor Diamond
Read about all of these curses at http://www.bustle.com/articles/177427-the-5-strangest-jewelry-curse-stories-because-diamonds-arent-always-a-girls-best-friend
