Archive for the ‘Iran’ Category
Shahbanou Farah Diba Wedding
The marriage that included two ceremonies, took place on 21st December. Yves Saint-Laurent, of the House of Dior designed the wedding dress, embroidered with silver threads. The Carita sisters created a hairstyle that featured a parting in the middle and with the temples covered. This style became fashionable the world over. The diadem was a Crown jewel. It was designed in the 50’s by the American, Harry Winston and weighed two kilos.
Samarian spinel
The Samarian Spinel is a 500-carat (100 g) spinel gemstone that is the largest of its kind in the world. It is part of the Iranian Crown Jewels. It, together with a smaller 270-carat (54 g) spinel, were captured by the Persian King Nader Shah during his 18th century conquest of India. The smaller of the two Spinel bears a 350-year-old inscription attributing its ownership to Jehangir, a Mogul Emperor of India. Legend states that in response to court criticism for having inscribed his own name on the stone, the Emperor proclaimed “This stone shall make my name more famous than the entire dynasty of Tamerlane!” His prediction proved somewhat correct as the Tamerlane dynasty was overthrown after 230 years, while Jehangir’s name lives on inscribed on a number of gemstones found in the Iranian treasury.
The Samarian Spinel uniquely has a hole in it. According to a diary entry of the court physician to the Iranian Shah Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, the King told the physician that the stone once adorned the neck of the biblical golden calf, which the Israelites are said to have made while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments. The diamond was added later to conceal the hole.
There is, however, no way to confirm the King’s fanciful description and the diamond cover has since been lost.
