2. The Imperial crown jewels of Iran (also known as the Imperial crown jewels
of Persia) include several elaborate crowns and decorative thrones, thirty
tiaras, and numerous aigrettes, a dozen bejeweled swords and shields, a
vast number of unset precious gems, numerous plates and other dining
services cast in precious metals and encrusted with gems, and several other
more unusual items (such as a gemstone globe) collected by the Iranian
monarchy during its 2,500-year existence. The collection is kept at "The
Treasury of National Jewels" which is its official name, but goes by the
street name of "Jewelry Museum". It is situated inside Central Bank of the
Islamic Republic of Iran on Tehran's Ferdowsi Avenue. The Imperial crown
jewels of Iran is the largest jewelry collection in the world. The museum is
open to the public four times a week from 14:00 to 16:00.

3. During the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, most of the
royal treasury was transferred to the National
Bank of Iran, in order to strengthen the financial
capacity of the bank, as well as serve as a
guarantee of the Iranian currency. In January
1960, during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah,
the meeting was moved to the newly established
Central Bank of Iran, on where it is to this day.
Nader Shah's dagger with a
small portion of his jewelry.

4. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the royal collection of the Pahlavi
dynasty, and some other jewels were added to the treasury of the Central
Bank. Since then, it was renamed the National Iranian treasury jewelry,
more commonly referred to as a "Museum of jewelry." And now there is the
most valuable collection in the world of jewelry - today the largest and most
amazing collection of jewelry in the world.

13. Nader Shah's shield made of rhinoceros skin. It was used during the war with
India in 1739 – 1740. Later, in honor of this event, the shield have been
added large rubies, diamonds, corundum and emerald.

14. Crown Fath Ali Shah, better
known as the "Crown Kiani,"
decorated with diamonds,
emeralds, rubies and pearls.
Basic red stone - corundum
Aurangzib. Crown produced
during the reign of Fath Ali
Shah, in 1797, and it was
used a few of checks after
that. It was the first crown,
made after the Sassanid
dynasty.

15. Crown, which is used by Reza Khan
and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It is
made of gold and silver and
decorated with diamonds,
emeralds, sapphires and pearls.

16. Woven of the crown is made of red
velvet. On the four sides of the crown
are scenes of battles and sun with
bright rays and four planets, all
made from diamonds. In general,
the crown of crowns in the style of the
Sassanid rulers (226 -651 years).

17. This crown, which includes 3380
diamonds (1144 carats) and
368 pearls (all together weigh
2080 g) was used during the
coronation of Reza Pahlavi,
April 25, 1926, and Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi October 26, 1967

20. Cover the dish, decorated
with precious stones

21. One of the world's most
famous diamond is the
Darya-ye Noor ("More
Light"). It is the largest
pink diamond in the world
- and it certainly ranks
first among the huge
variety of diamonds in the
National treasury of Iran.
This stone is passed by Shah
Iran from generation to
generation - from Nader
Shah to Nasruddin Shah.
Which belonged to the
stone with a special love.
Weight "Darya-ye Noor" is
about 182 carats, it is a
pale pink color, which is
very rare among
diamonds. Scientists
suspect that before it was
only part of a larger stone,
weighing 242 carats, and
later split into "Darya-ye
Noor" and "Noor-ol-Ein"
(60 carats).

26. Gold belt with a large emerald (weighing 175.5 carats) on the buckle, is
surrounded by 60 faceted diamonds and polished pink diamonds 145.
The length of the belt is 119 cm, width - 4 cm belt was used during the
coronation of Reza Khan Pahlavi in 1926

27. Also known as the Shahi Sword, it was a present to Nasseridin Shah from
Amin-o’Sultan, his prime minister. Before his assassination, Amin-o’Sultan
served in the court of a number of Kings in that capacity.

28. However, he wasn’t as well appreciated by the common folk. Through his
various posts, which included the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of
the Treasury and Customs, he managed to accumulate sufficient wealth to
afford such presents.

34. Hookah (also known as a
waterpipe or narghile) from
ostrich egg shells and gold

35. Water bottle, made in the
XIX century, adorned
with turquoise and rubies
that cover it in a spiral

38. Gold brooch in the form of a
bouquet, inlaid with
diamonds, rubies and opals.
It was made in the XIX century.

39. The brooch, made in the XIX
century. In the form of a
double knot made of a set of
identical jewels.

40. Indian diamonds

41. Chest for treasure, enameled
with artful drawings of the
Persian Qajar dynasty and
floral patterns

43. "Egret Nader" decorated with
diamonds and emeralds.

44. Artfully made from silver egret,
encrusted with diamonds and
emeralds

45. Egret with diamonds and
sapphires, made at the beginning
of the XIX century

46. Egret in gold and silver, with
rubies and diamonds (the
beginning of XIX century)

47. In this box are some emeralds, weighing from 10 to
320 carats, as well as objects, decorated with emeralds

48. Necklace Garamol Saltan, of
gold and silver with diamonds
and emeralds
Platinum necklace with diamonds
and emeralds, made in 1967

50. Egret turquoise, depicting
the sun, made during the
reign of Shah Nasiruddin
(1848-1896)

51. A necklace of emeralds, diamonds
and pearls, made in 1967,
coronation necklace of Farah
Pahlavi

52. Following in the footsteps of policies
initiated under the White
Revolution that directed the further
emancipation of Iranian women,
Mohammad Reza Shah determined
to make a symbolic gesture by
crowning his consort, Empress
Farah, during his own elaborate
coronation ceremony in October of
1967.

53. Until that date, the wives of Persian monarchs
had never been crowned, so it was therefore
necessary to design a new crown for the occasion.
That honor was bestowed upon the French
jewelers, Van Cleef & Arpels. The crown made
from the finest gems of the Treasury, is made of
platinum and gold and encrusted with 1469
diamonds, 36 emeralds, 105 pearls, 34 rubies
and two corundum. Its total weight is 1 480 g

54. In accordance with tradition, the gems used were selected
from loose stones already in the Imperial treasury.

55. Since it was against the law for
items from the Imperial Treasury to
leave Iran, Van Cleef & Arpels were
obliged to send a team of jewelers to
Tehran in order to construct the
crown, a process which occupied
them for six months

56. The Empress Crown is
part of the coronation
regalia used by the only
Shahbanu (Empress) of
Iran, Farah Pahlavi. It
is part of the Iranian
Crown Jewels and is
currently on display at
the Central Bank of Iran
in Tehran.

58. Work on the Globe of jewelry began
in 1869, by order of Nasreddin
Shah. Iranian jewelers group led by
Ibrahim Massihi, made this globe
of individual stones, which were
kept in the treasury. Net weight of
gold used in the manufacture
Globe is 34 kg, and precious stones
all together weigh 3656 g.

59. As this is often mentioned, jewelers,
much better versed in working with
the jewelry, rather than in
geography, so sometimes some of
the country on the globe to define
sufficient difficult. Seas and oceans
are made of emeralds, continents -
from rubies. Southeast Asia, Iran,
Britain and France are
represented with diamonds. The
diameter of the globe is about 66
cm Reliance made of wood, inlaid
with precious stones

60. Presented here, "Nader throne", although it is named in his honor, has
nothing to do with the Iranian ruler of the XVIII century.

61. The inscriptions on the panels surrounding
the seat of the throne shows that it was
created during the reign of Fath Ali Shah
(1798 - 1834). Fath Ali Shah ordered that
throne in order to demonstrate the luxury
of his court and subjects of foreign
ambassadors who attended the king in the
various summer residences in the vicinity of
Tehran.

62. The throne is made up of 12 individual
parts and includes the whole 26 733
precious stones. It was also used during
the coronation ceremony of Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi.

63. Fath Ali Shah, who reigned
from 1798 - 1834, commanded
his craftsmen to produce this
throne. Became known as
"Sunny the throne," because
his back was shown the sun.
After the shah was married to
Tawus ("Peacock")
Tadzhodole, the throne was
renamed the "Peacock." Some
believe that it is - the famous
"Peacock Throne", which was
brought from India, but it is
not.

64. "Sunny the throne,"
Shah Jahan on The Peacock Throne

65. After Fath-Ali Shah’s death, his
successor, Nasser-ed-Din Shah,
ordered the throne to be
changed, and some panels were
added, carrying verses in blue
enamel on golden background.
The throne was kept in Golestan
Palace until 1981. Due to its rich
decoration with jewels, it was
then decided to keep it with other
pieces of the National Treasury
and thus delivered to the Central
Bank.
Muhammad Isfahani Nasir ad-Din 1850s Hermitage S-Peterburg

66. Text & pictures: Internet
Arangement: Sanda
Foişoreanu
Sound: Kiawasch Saheb Nassagh - Moments - March 2, 2002