The Imperial Crown Jewels of Iran

The Imperial crown jewels of Iran include crowns and thrones, thirty tiaras, a dozen bejeweled swords and shields, a vast number of gems, and other objects cast in gold and encrusted with gems. The Imperial crown jewels of Iran are said to be the largest set of displayed jewels in the world in state ownership in one location.

The collection is housed at The Treasury of National Jewels, inside the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tehran.

Most of the items 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 capital of Isfahan and took the Iranian crown jewels as plunder. Nader Shah Afshar drove the Afghans from Iran in 1729. In 1738, the Shah launched a campaign against the Afghan homeland. The victorious Nader Shah returned to Iran with the plundered crown jewels as well as other precious objects now found in the Iranian Treasury.

These included heavily jewel-encrusted thrones and numerous diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. Four of the most prominent acquisitions from this conquest were the Koh-i-Noor and Darya-ye Noor diamonds, the Peacock Throne, and the Samarian Spinel.

When the Iranian revolution toppled the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979, it was feared that in the chaos the Iranian crown jewels had been stolen or sold. Although some smaller items were stolen and smuggled across Iran's borders, the bulk of the collection remained intact. The revolutionary government under the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani re-opened the permanent exhibition of the Iranian crown jewels to the public in the 1990s. They remain on public display.

The Kiani Crown was the traditional coronation crown.

Empress Farah Coronation Crown

The imperial crown of the Pahlavi dynasty. It has 3380 diamonds (1144 carats).

Gem encrusted pitcher

The Imperial Xiran Empress Necklace