English Crown Jewels
Many people search every day on search engines for photos of the English Crown jewels, keen to see pictures of the crowns, tiaras, rings, sceptres and bracelets that make up, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the largest and most precious treasures in all the world. The fruit of centuries and centuries of history – and jewellery-making of the highest level of course – the English monarchy’s crown jewels are so extensive that Queen Elizabeth’s treasure seems endless. If you are wondering how much the English crown jewels are worth, their total value is incalculable, consisting of countless diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds and pearls, set in gold, silver and platinum.
English Crown Jewels: where are they?
Where are the English Crown jewels located? As per tradition, the English Crown jewels are kept in the Tower of London, home to the treasury of the Royal Family since 1303, the year in which Westminster Abbey – where they were previously kept – was robbed.
The main jewels of the English crown
It is impossible to say how much the jewels of the English Monarchy are worth: how to calculate the value of such a vast treasure? Let’s start for example with the crowns used by Queen Elizabeth, beginning with the Imperial State Crown, which on a gold, silver and platinum base has a total of 2,901 precious stones: 33 are sapphires, emeralds and pearls, while the rest of the crown is covered with diamonds. One of the highlights is the 3017 carat Cullinan II diamond, which at the time of its discovery was hailed as the largest rough diamond ever found. Then there is the ancient Sovereign’s Orb, made in the seventeenth century for Charles II, studded with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, rose cut diamonds and, to finish, enriched by an amethyst. Obviously among the English crown jewels there is also the sceptre, that is to say St Edward’s sceptre, embellished with plentiful precious stones, including the largest diamond ever extracted: the famous Cullian with 3106 carats.
And these are only the most representative of the English Crown jewels: to these must be added the many and different tiaras worn on various occasions by the women of the royal family, the crowns of the house of Windsor and so on, jewels made in various eras for different sovereigns of the English monarchy.
