The imperial crown jewels of Iran (also known as the imperial crown jewels of Persia) constitute the largest jewelry collection in the world.

 

The jewels include several crowns and decorative thrones, 30 tiaras and numerous aigrettes, bejeweled swords and shields, as well as a vast number of unset precious gems.

 

The collection includes 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 housed at The Treasury of National Jewels (the official name), but is known colloquially as the Jewelry Museum. It is situated inside the Central Bank of Iran on Tehran’s Ferdowsi Avenue.

 

The museum is open to the public from 14:00 to 17:00, except on Thursdays and Fridays. The museum has 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.

 

Most 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 plundered the Iranian crown jewels.

 

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, raiding the cities of Kandahar and Kabul as well as several principalities in 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 several heavily jewel-encrusted thrones and numerous diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and other precious gemstones.

 

Four of the most prominent acquisitions from this conquest were the Kouh-e-Nour (Mountain of Light) and Darya-ye Nour (Sea of Light) diamonds (both originating from India and still among the largest in the world), the Peacock Throne, and the Samarian Spinel.

 

As to the Kouh-e Nour, it is now part of the British Royal treasure. The Darya-ye Nour is still in the Iranian collection.

 

In 1937, during the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, ownership of the Imperial treasury was transferred to the state.

 

The jewels were placed in the vaults of the National Bank of Iran, where they were used as collateral to strengthen the financial power of the institution and to back the national monetary system. (Source: IRIB)