I LOOKED magnificent, set in the middle of the new king of Persia’s crown.

It was his coronation. He was standing on a large platform in a great hall. Thousands of people stood before us, cheering. Afterwards, there was a grand feast, and I basked in the splendour of the bejewelled crown. There were many other jewels beside me too adorning the royal crown, including rubies, emeralds and diamonds, but I surpassed them all in my beauty.

At the end of the ceremony, I was put in a glass case in a small but beautiful chamber in the palace. Each night I sat there, perched upon a velvet cushion. The king would wear the crown all day, and then a royal attendant would gently put me back in my case.

Then one day, in the middle of the night, a man came into the chamber, holding a set of keys. He looked feverish, excited. He was also nervous. I recognised him. He was one of the kitchen staff. I knew he should not be here. He opened the glass case and took the crown out. Using some tools, he prised me off the crown and put me in his pocket. I lay there, suffocating in the dark.

When he finally pulled me out, I was in a small, dingy pub. The thief gave me to another man, who in turn handed him an envelope thick with money. This exchange took place under the table.

I was taken to a lonely, dilapidated shack in an unpopulated area. I was closed in a small box. In the shack, my new owner and another man were discussing something. During their heated conversation, I found out that the person who had stolen me in the first place had been discovered and hanged by the king. When the two men failed to come to an agreement about my price, the other man shot my owner, grabbed me and ran off.

A few days later, I found myself being taken to a small port. The sea was calm and I enjoyed the light breeze. The man who possessed me now boarded a barge and set off. We travelled for three days and two nights. There had been no storm and the voyage was peaceful … until a pirate ship overtook us.

There was a fierce, bloody battle on board and many people, including my owner, were killed. The pirates looted me along with many other treasures found in the cabins.

Their leader was the notorious Captain Bartholomew who was feared all across the seven seas. When he caught sight of me, his fiery eyes lit up with greed and delight. He struck the pirate on the head with his club and snatched me from his lifeless hands.

We travelled northwest. A few days’ journey was left till we reached land when we were enveloped in a violent storm. The ship was battered terribly and the mast was torn apart. We would have reached the Spanish coast if it weren’t for the lightning that struck the ship and set it on fire. There were no survivors. At that time, I was in a small wooden box in the captain’s cabin.

After the storm had died down, divers approached to examine the wreck. I was found by a man, who took me to his dwellings in Seville. I was sold to a rich British woman, the Countess of Hangleton. She took me back to England, where she stayed in a grand hotel in London.

Alas, my woes were not over. The head attendant of the hotel stole me from her jewellery box. He wanted to sell me to a jewellery maker, but the experienced jeweller was certain that I had been stolen. He quietly called the cops who arrested the thief. He was sentenced to imprisonment and will remain in a windowless dungeon for the rest of his miserable life.

I was returned to Countess of Hangleton, but she didn’t want me anymore. She was a superstitious sort of woman and was apprehensive that some bad luck would befall her. She gave me to the British Museum where now I lie on a plush, red cushion, finally living a peaceful life. For how long, I do not know because I have noticed that the curator looks at me in a funny way. I am sure he is plotting something.

But all those who read my story should know that I bring great misfortune and disaster to those who attempt to own me when they have no right. Or perhaps they bring disaster upon themselves due to their greed and avarice.