26 June 2026
The Man Who Saw the Hope Diamond Before It Existed
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About this episode
In 1666, a French gem merchant named Jean-Baptiste Tavernier stood in front of Shah Jahan's Peacock Throne and described it stone by stone, over 100 rubies, 150+ emeralds, and diamonds he couldn't even count. While he was in India he also saw the Great Mogul diamond. And the violet stone he bought and later sold to Louis XIV? That one was eventually cut down into the diamond we now call the Hope Diamond.