Crown of the Day:
Solomon Burke, From the Heart (1981)
August 14, 2011, 11:59pm
Crown of the Day:
1722, Crown of King Louis XV
Made from the most precious stones in the French Royal Collection. It is on permanent display in the Louvre museum in Paris.
August 09, 2011, 10:30am
Crown of the Day:
1870: Queen Victoria’s Diamond Crown
1,187 diamonds, all came from a necklace owned by the Queen.
August 08, 2011, 10:30am
Crown of the Day:
Imperial Crown of India, 1912
Made for the Coronation of King George V. “..a glittering array of emeralds, rubies, sapphires, 6,100 diamonds, and a very fine Indian ruby. It weighs 34.05 ounces (0.97 kg). … The crown was fashioned by Crown Jewellers, Garrad & Co, and cost £60,000.”
August 06, 2011, 10:30am
Crown of the Day:
Imperial Crown of Austria, 1602
Check that giant emerald of my dreams.
The sceptre that goes with this one is made out of “unicorn horn”. (?) Zero lies.
Personal crown of Rudolf II. It is studded with eight diamonds, which symbolise Christ. At the top of the arch is a blue-green emerald, which symbolises heaven. The emerald was not cut, but polished.
August 05, 2011, 10:30am
Crown of the Day:
This is a good one.
Imperial State Crown, 1838
The Black Prince’s Ruby is set into the central panel of the crown. The ruby looks like a clot of congealed blood. It is one of the most interesting and admired gems in existence.
The Imperial State Crown is the most magnificent of all the Crown Regalia. It was made in 1838 for the coronation of Queen Victoria, and then altered for the coronation of George VI in 1937 and Elizabeth II in 1953.
August 04, 2011, 10:00am
Crown of the Day:
The Empress’ Crown, 3rd of the 3 crowns of the Iranian Crown Jewels.
The frame of the crown is made of white gold and is lined with a cap of green velvet. The crown contains 38 emeralds, 105 pearls, 34 rubies, 2 spinels, and 1,469 diamonds.
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.
August 03, 2011, 10:00am
Crown of the Day:
The Pahlavi Crown, 2nd of the 3 crowns of the Iranian Crown Jewels.
Following the ascension of the Pahlavi Dynasty in 1925, Reza Shah ordered a group of Iranian jewelers, under the supervision of Haj Serajeddin, to create a new crown to replace the Kiani Crown which had been used by the Qajar dynasty. Inspiration for the new design was drawn from paintings and historical references to crowns used during the Sassanid Empire, which had ruled Persia from 224 to 651 AD.
August 02, 2011, 10:00am
Crown of the Day:
Kiani Crown, 1st of the 3 crowns of the Iranian Crown Jewels.
1800 pearls, 300 emeralds and 1800 rubies.
The traditional coronation crown in the Iranian Crown Jewels which was used during the Qajar dynasty (1796–1925). The outer frame of the crown has three horizontal rows of pearls going right round the circumference of the crown. One row is at the lower edge, a second below the wavy edge, and a third somewhere in the middle. Between the upper and middle horizontal rows of pearls, more closely studded pearls in roughly hexagonal areas, form a beautiful pattern right round the circumference of the crown. The wavy edge of the outer frame is also studded with pearls. The two edges of the semi-circular bands supporting the cap of the crown are also lined with pearls. In all the total number of pearls found on the crown is about 1,800, so much so that one could characterize the Kiani Crown as essentially a “Crown of Pearls.”
August 01, 2011, 10:00am
Crown of the Day:
Crown of Istvan Bocskay, Prince of Transylvania.
Circa 1600: Gold, rubies, spinels, emeralds, turquoises, pearls, silk.
Born in Kolozsvár (today: Cluj-Napoca), Bocskay was the most eminent member of the ancient Bocskay family and the son of György Bocskay and Krisztina Sulyok. As the chief counsellor of Prince Sigismund Báthory, he advised his sovereign to form an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor instead of holding to the Ottoman Empire, and rendered important diplomatic services on frequent missions to Prague and Vienna.
July 31, 2011, 10:00am
