When Hollywood heartthrob Rudolph Valentino bought a tiger’s eye ring from a San Francisco jewelry shop in 1920, he was warned. The shop owner advised him against the purchase on the grounds of a curse, which brought ill fortune upon whoever wore the ring. Valentino ignored the warning, a choice that would cost him dearly.

Stories of cursed jewels go back thousands of years. According to legends, cursed jewelry has caused everything from divorce and financial ruin to sickness, exile, and even death. Some particularly famous pieces include the Hope Diamond and Kooh-I-Noor, which you can read about in part one. This article will explore the legends of some lesser-known but equally deadly trinkets.

Rudolph Valentino in The Young Rajah (1922)

RUDOLPH VALENTINO’S CURSED RING

Rudy Valentino’s film career was beginning to blossom. His first lead role in 1919 would catapult him into stardom, and his future looked bright. The trouble began when Valentino wore the tiger’s eye ring in “The Young Rajah,” which was a box-office flop. Over the next few years, the actor was plagued by personal and professional problems, including two divorces, a bigamy arrest and trial, and financial disputes with his studio. In 1926, a mysterious medical episode, misdiagnosis, and surgical complications led to his untimely death at 31.

Pola Negri

The ring wasn’t finished there – it wreaked havoc on many more lives as it changed hands following Valentino’s death. His then-fiance, Pola Negri, suffered from a period of ill-health before passing the ring on to her lover, singer Russ Colombo, who died in a freak shooting accident. Colombo’s best friend Joe Casino inherited the ring and was killed when hit by a truck. Joe’s brother Del was the next unlucky heir, and while Del himself escaped death, his home was robbed by a burglar named James Willis. Police fatally shot Willis, and the fateful ring was found on his person. Today, it sits in an L.A. bank vault, which has also felt its sinister effects. Since it has been there, the bank has caught fire and robbed tens of thousands of dollars.

King Croesus’ Brooch c. 547 BCE

KING CROESUS’ BROOCH

The origin of the ring’s curse is unknown, in contrast with our next cursed object. Croesus was a wealthy Lydian king who safeguarded his troves with curses to punish potential thieves. Hoards of his gold and jewels were buried with a Lydian princess and lay underground for hundreds of years before Turkish villagers discovered the burial mound in 1965. The men excavated the mound and were delighted to find mountains of treasure. They made off with all the jewelry, which they sold to a smuggler. Part of this bounty was King Croeses’ hippocamp brooch – a golden ornament in the shape of a winged seahorse. The thieves didn’t get to enjoy their newfound wealth for long. One of the men felt the division of artifacts had been unfair and betrayed the others to the police. The following years held ruin for all three, with fates including divorce, insanity, and the loss of children to tragic circumstances.

When the Turkish government discovered that the precious brooch had made its way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they launched a campaign for its recovery. It would take six years and cost over $25 million, but the brooch was returned. Years later, after being displayed at the Usak Museum in Turkey, it was discovered to be a fake. Investigations revealed that the Usak museum director had sold the real brooch to pay off gambling debts, replacing it with an imposter. He was sentenced to 13 years of prison and claimed that the brooch’s curse had sealed his fate. The real brooch finally made its way back to Turkey in 2013, and officials hold on to the hope that the curse only affects those who wrongfully possess the powerful object.

While bad luck doesn’t discriminate, the copious tragedy left in the wake of these cursed pieces seems hard to explain by coincidence alone. Those who encounter jewelry with rumors of a curse would do well to heed warnings – whether the piece in question is a famous, valuable golden brooch or a $7 ring bought at a jewelry store.

Don’t forget to read the other three parts of the Cursed Series for more intriguing stories about these enigmatic gemstones.