Iranian Crown Jewels

The Imperial crown jewels of Iran (also known as the Imperial crown jewels of Persia) include elaborate crowns, thirty tiaras, and numerous aigrettes, a dozen bejeweled swords and shields, a 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 large golden globe with the oceans made of emeralds) collected by the Iranian monarchy from the 16th century (Safavid dynasty) on. The collection is housed at The Treasury of National Jewels (the official name) but is known colloquially as the Jewellery Museum. It is situated inside the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Tehran's Ferdowsi Avenue. The museum is open to the public from 14:00 to 16:30 hrs except on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The museum has onsite guides with knowledge of Persian, English, French and Russian languages. There are also guide booklets available in English, Persian, French, Russian, German, Japanese and Arabic.

The majority of the items now in the collection were acquired by the Safavid dynasty, which ruled Iran from 1502 to 1736 AD. Afghans invaded Iran in 1719 and sacked the then capital of Isfahan and took the Iranian crown jewels as plunder. By 1729, however, after an internal struggle of nearly a decade, Nader Shah Afshar successfully drove the Afghans from Iran. In 1738, the Shah launched his own campaign against the Afghan homeland. After taking and raiding the cities of Kandahar and Kabul as well as several principalities in far-off northern India, and sacking Delhi, the victorious Nader Shah returned to Iran with what remained of the plundered crown jewels as well as several other precious objects now found in the Iranian Treasury. These included diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and other precious gemstones. Four of the most prominent acquisitions from this conquest were the Koh-i-Noor and Darya-ye Noor diamonds (both originating from India and still amongst the largest in the world), the Peacock Throne, and the Samarian Spinel.

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