For centuries, people have looked in awe at the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. They’ve been handed down for over 800 years, symbolizing the highest status in the land. Lavish jewelry, such as the Queen’s Jewels, have an immense amount of work that goes into them. They’re also, needless to say, worth quite the fortune.
The Crown Jewels
Much more than just a crown, the Crown Jewels of England are actually comprised of 140 different objects. These are housed in the Tower of London and are used for high-level obligations such as coronations. These objects include swords, staves maces, trumpets, crowns, tiaras and even embedded clothing.
Public Assets
Oddly enough, the nation does not actually own the crown jewels. They are known as ‘public assets,’ but the crown jewels are owned and managed by outside firms. There has actually been a large amount of confusion over this, with members of royalty openly saying that the Queen has the right to personally sell the crowns if she wished.
While she would likely get away with that, there would likely be a large legal battle to follow. Of course, it’s highly doubtful that the Queen would ever do anything such as that to begin with, so the point is moot.
The Imperial State Crown
The crown itself was made in 1937 for George VI and was modeled from the previous crown of 1838. The content of the crown mainly include Sapphires, Rubies, Pearls and Diamonds. Originally, the crown showcased a large diamond, but it was split into 9 (still large) diamonds and a bunch of smaller ones.
All in all, the crown has approximately 2,900 precious stones, with the majority of the value being in the diamonds.The crown also features about 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls as well as gold and silver mounts.
The Crown does not have an official value, but it’s estimated to be between 3 and 5 billion pounds.