The Iranian Treasury of National Jewels, often referred to in English simply as the National Jewels Museum, is the public display of the historic Iranian royal jewel collection. Located in the basement of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Ferdowsi Street in central Tehran, the Treasury holds one of the world's most significant accumulations of historic gemstones, regalia and royal jewellery, much of it unmatched in scale or completeness elsewhere. The collection has been displayed publicly since 1955 and has continued in display under the Islamic Republic since 1979.

Constitutional and institutional position

The Treasury holds the Iranian National Jewels in trust for the state. Since the 1930s under the Pahlavi dynasty the major jewels have served formally as backing for the Iranian national currency, and that constitutional arrangement was preserved through the regime change of 1979. The collection is therefore an asset of the state of Iran, administered through the Central Bank, and the Treasury display is the public face of that asset. The arrangement is unusual among major royal collections; most equivalent collections elsewhere are held as personal property of the relevant monarchy or as cultural assets administered by separate cultural ministries.

Scope of the collection

The Treasury holds tens of thousands of individual pieces, ranging from major individual stones to entire suites of jewellery, ceremonial regalia, and decorative objects. The most prominent individual stones include the Daria-i-Noor (approximately 182 carats, one of the largest pink diamonds in the world); the Nur-ul-Ain (approximately 60 carats, also pink); the central yellow diamond of the 1926 Pahlavi Crown (approximately 60 carats); large emeralds including stones up to several hundred carats; substantial Burmese rubies and Burmese spinels; and an immense pearl collection. The major regalia pieces include the 1926 Pahlavi Crown, the 1967 Coronation Crown of Empress Farah Pahlavi by Van Cleef & Arpels, multiple tiaras (including the Nur-ul-Ain tiara by Harry Winston, 1958), and several thrones including the so-called Peacock Throne of the Qajar era.

Notable single pieces

The Globe of Jewels, sometimes called the Globe of Jahanguir, is one of the most photographed individual objects in the collection. Made in the late nineteenth century under Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, it is a sphere approximately 66 cm across covered in approximately 51,000 stones representing the geographical features of the Earth, with seas in emerald, continents in ruby and Iran picked out in diamonds. The Sun Throne (Takht-e Khorshid) and the Naderi Throne are large seating thrones encrusted with stones from the royal accumulation, with the Naderi Throne dating to the early nineteenth century and the Sun Throne to slightly earlier.

Documentation and study

The collection has been catalogued in published form by several scholars. The most substantial early catalogue work is that of V. B. Meen and A. D. Tushingham, whose multi-volume study published in the 1960s and 1970s remains the standard academic reference for the major pieces. Subsequent publications have updated the photographic record and added scholarly analysis, particularly on the Daria-i-Noor and its possible relationship to the historical Great Table diamond described in Mughal sources. Access for new academic study is constrained by the broader political situation but not impossible.

Display and visitor access

The Treasury is open to the public on a scheduled basis, typically a few days per week and during specified hours. Visitors enter through the Central Bank security perimeter and proceed to the basement display galleries. Photography inside is prohibited, although photographs in published sources have established the visual record of the major pieces. The exhibition is laid out by category, with separate rooms or cases for crowns and tiaras, thrones, loose stones, and historical jewellery sets.

International market significance

The Treasury's existence as a continuously held intact collection means that the historic Iranian royal gemstones do not circulate in the international market. This is unusual among the major royal collections of the world, most of which have seen substantial portions sold or auctioned at one time or another. The Iranian collection's intact survival from before 1979 to the present is one of the more striking facts of contemporary gem history, and it shapes both the global supply of historic top-tier coloured stones and the auction record of those that did leave the country before sanctions and regime change closed the export channel.

Conservation and security

The Treasury operates under the security regime of the Central Bank, which means that the storage and display arrangements are at a level rarely matched even in the best museum environments. The pieces are not loaned for international exhibition, and the public display in Tehran is the only context in which the major pieces can be seen. Conservation work is carried out internally by Central Bank staff and by Iranian conservators with appropriate training.