Pahlavi Crown
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The Pahlavi Crown is the crown that was used to crown both the Pahlavi Shahanshahs of Iran (Persia).
It was commissioned by Reza Shah to be made for his coronation on 25 April 1926; it was also used at the coronation, on 26 October 1967 of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. The crown is currently on display at the Tehran Royal Treasury Museum.
[edit] Background
Following the abolition of the Qajar dynasty, Reza Shah ordered a group of Iranian jewellers, under the supervision of Haj Serajeddin, a famous jeweller, to design and make a crown. Crowns used in the Sassanid empire, which had ruled over the Persian Empire from 224 to 651 AD, were the inspiration of this crown's design.
[edit] Manufacture
The crown is made of gold, silver and red velvet. It has a maximum height of 29.8 cm and a width of 19.8 cm. It weighs 2,080 grams. As many as 3,380 diamonds, totalling 1,144 carats (228.8 g) , are set into the crown. The largest of these is a brilliant-cut yellow diamond weighing 60 carats (12 g), placed in the center of the front. There are also 369 perfectly-matching natural pearls in three rows on the crown. Of the 5 emeralds, totalling 200 carats (40 g), the largest is approximately 100 carats (20 g). The largest sapphire is 20 carats (4 g).
All of the stones were selected from loose stones in the Iranian imperial Treasury, as per tradition.
