Sunday, September 26, 2010

Crown Jewels of Britain

I am fascinated by the lives of kings and queens and other royalties and especially their crown jewels.  I wonder how each crown costs (definitely millions) and what makes up their crown.  I made a little research about the most famous royal family of all--the British Royal Family.  The crown jewels are kept and guarded by the Yeomen Warders in the Tower of London.  Each year, the crown jewels are on display for people to view.


Here is the Imperial State Crown that Queen Elizabeth wears during special occasions.  It weighs 0.91 kilograms, has over 3,000 precious stones including the 317 carat Cullinan II diamond that is set on the middle.  


 The Sovereign's Scepter that symbolizes temporal power.  It is 92.2 cm long with various precious stones including the 530 carat Cullinan I diamond at the center that is held by four gold clasps which can be removed to be worn as pendant.


 The Sovereign's Orb is made of gold and over 600 precious stones and pearls.  It weighs 1.32kg and was first used during Charles II's coronation in 1661.  It symbolizes the domination of Christianity over the world.


Here, Queen Elizabeth II wears the crown and holds the scepter and orb during her coronation on 2 June 1953.


This is the 1820 Diadem that Queen Elizabeth wears on a regular basis and the one that you can see on banknotes and stamps. It was originally made for King George IV to wear with his cap during his coronation on 1821.  It is composed of four diamond pave set on gold with four bouquets of rose, thistle and shamrock that represents United Kingdom.  There are 1,333 diamonds in all weighing 325.75 carats and 169 pearls.


Photos from here and here.

2 comments:

  1. I really like your blog!, I am a jewelry collector and got desperate to find only websites that try to sell their inventory!

    So, I started to write a blog as well:

    http://collectingfinejewels.blogspot.com

    My blog is for curators of collections of fine jewellery and for anyone who enjoys finding unique and rare fine jewels; be it antique, estate, vintage jewellery or modern magnificent stones and designs. From a collector, investor or stylist point of view, these are the best pieces that I have found that are for sale in auctions and antique shops around the world. Ultimately it is for everyone who shares this passion.

    I hope you like it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for dropping by. I saw your blog and you have really great collection there.

    ReplyDelete

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