The Gem of Sorrow
PC: Navrang India During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the Delhi Purple Sapphire was stolen from the Temple of Indra (God of Rain), and it is firmly held that a curse was placed as a result of its removal from the idol. Colonel W. Ferris, a Bengal Cavalryman who would later come to regret taking the priceless stone home with him, brought the sapphire to England. The entire Ferris family appeared to be struggling with their health and finances soon after arriving back in England. They put the blame for their issues on a string of poor investment decisions made by Mr. Ferris and his son, which put the family in danger of going bankrupt. When a friend of the Ferris family suddenly committed suicide while in possession of the sapphire, things took a terrible turn for the worst. The gem was next owned by a writer named Edward Heron-Allen in 1890. Heron-Allen, an Oscar Wilde friend, described a string of unfortunate events that occurred immediately, leading him to conclude that the sapphire...