The Deadly Allure: 6 Cursed Jewels That Ruined Everyone Who Touched Them
Star of India. Also known as “Star of Lanka”, the gem is a completely flawless sapphire and looks more like a deep sea creature than a stone. This milky colored stone has stars on both of its sides.
The gem was formed in Sri Lanka about 2 billions years ago (can you believe it?!) and was discovered by humans about 300 years ago. It has 563.35 carats, and is considered the biggest star sapphire in the whole world (it’s as big as a golf-ball to give you some scale for it’s size).
In 1964 the Star of India along with a few other famous stones was stolen from American Museum of Natural History by Jack Murphy, also called Murph the Surf, and two other burglars. By a strange coincidence, the Star of India sapphire was the only gem protected by alarm, but as luck would have it for Murph, the battery that powered the alarm was dead and the night of robbery proceeded without complication. Murph and his accomplices were soon caught but they had swiftly disposed of the the stone. The gem was found later in a locker at a Miami bus station in January 1965. Amazingly the gem is still considered the “cursed stone”.
Black Orlov is also known as The Eye of the Brahma Diamond. It’s a black colored diamond that weighs 67.50 carats. The stone was supposedly featured as the left eye in a statue of an idol of the god Hindu Brahma in Pondicherry, India. The legend says that diamond became cursed after it had been stolen by a monk. In 1932 the gem dealer brought it to United States and committed suicide soon after by jumping from a New York City skyscraper. Later, in 1940 it supposedly caused two owners – Russian princesses – to jump off buildings not long after purchasing the gem. One of the princesses names was Nadia Vygin-Orlov after whom the Black Orlov was named. The next owner decided to kill the curse by cutting the stone into 3 pieces.
