Who made the crown of the Russian Empire. What jewels of Russian monarchs are kept in the diamond fund of the Moscow Kremlin

Two masters took a direct part in its creation: a court jeweler named Georg-Friedrich Eckart and a professional in diamond art, Jeremiah Pozier.

Maximum task

The Crown of the Russian Empire (photos of which are shown in this article) saw the light back in 1762. It was ordered specifically for the coronation of the wife of the then late Peter III, Catherine II. Eckart was entrusted with creating sketches of the future crown, and Pozier was tasked with directly selecting the jewels precious stones.

The most an important condition The task set before the masters was this: under no circumstances should the large imperial crown of the Russian Empire be allowed to be heavier than two kilograms. It should be noted that this condition was met with maximum accuracy. Weighed ready jewel 1993.8 grams.

Regardless of the complexity of its design, the headdress of the future Empress Catherine II was created in a relatively short time - in a couple of months.

Appearance and symbolism

It is curious that the shape of the finished jewelry was made in eastern traditions. The crown of the Russian Empire is divided into two silver hemispheres, symbolizing the union of the West and the East. The majestic design of this product is not only beautiful, but also filled with very deep meaning: the laurel branches located in its lower part symbolize glory, and the acorns symbolize the strength and strength of imperial power.

As for its dimensions, the height is 27.5 centimeters, and the length of the internal hole is 64 centimeters.

The crown of the Russian Empire consists of more than 5 thousand precious stones. Of these, exactly 4936 are the total weight of which is 2858 carats! In addition to diamonds, pearls were used in the crown, which were necessary to emphasize the beauty of the diamond lace. Precious metals, included in the decoration of this jewelry were silver and gold. The crown of the headdress is a very rare red colored gemstone called

Popular and famous

The large imperial crown “took root at court” so closely that after Catherine II this headdress was a necessary condition for the coronation of all subsequent emperors, starting with Paul I and ending with the last of the Romanov dynasty - Nicholas II.

Today we can safely say that this crown is the most famous of all its predecessors and successors until the very end of the Romanov monarchy in Russia.

In 1984, this unique jewelry monument was solemnly restored by jewelers G.F. Aleksakhin. and artist Sitnikov V.G. Today this unique piece of jewelry is among the most unique exhibits (imperial orb and scepter) in Russia.

Last time...

The most recent occasion when the crown of the Russian Empire was used was a state event in 1906 - a solemn ceremony on the occasion of the opening in which the last owner of the Russian land, Nicholas II Romanov, participated.

Large Imperial Crown. Currently, the Great Imperial Crown is in the Diamond Fund Russian Federation. The Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire is the main symbol of the power of Russian monarchs.

This is impossible for a number of reasons: the diamonds of the royal crown have an outdated cut. The majestic design of the crown is not only beautiful, but also filled with deep meaning. The crown is depicted at the feet of the Empress in the ensemble of the monument to Catherine II in the park near the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

Catherine II, having ascended the throne after Peter III, who did not have time to be crowned, ordered the famous Great Imperial Crown, with which all her descendants will be crowned in the future (now in the Diamond Fund). Only 2 of these crowns survived before the revolution. In addition, before certain period The “wedding crowns” of brides were dismantled in the same way, although later they began to crown the one that had survived.

Imperial wedding crown (1840/1884) - diamond wedding crown made by the famous St. Petersburg company Bolin. Crown of Elizabeth Petrovna (1742) - was made by the jeweler I. G. Tsart, who was helped by Russian and foreign masters and students.

Reviews (2) on “Crowns of the Russian Empire... (13 photos)”

The coat of arms is crowned with the Finnish crown. This crown does not actually exist, but by virtue of the Highest Order of 1857, it had to be depicted in the coats of arms of the Finnish provinces and the city of Helsingfors (now Helsinki). But in Finnish writings the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy was represented by the crown of the Western European Grand Duchies. T. LXX. - St. Petersburg, 2013. - pp. 102–114; Bykova Yu. I.. On the question of the authorship of the coronation regalia of Empress Anna Ioannovna // Moscow Kremlin in the state life of Russia.

Some of the exhibits for the project were provided by Russian archives and major museums, including the Hermitage, but the bulk of them left the Armory for the first time in several decades. The crown is crowned with a rare bright red gemstone - a noble spinel weighing 398.72 carats. It is not surprising that this crown became the main imperial regalia - all Russian emperors were crowned with it. The crown contains 1,393 diamonds, weighing a total of 586.92 carats, as well as 2,167 rose-cut diamonds, 256.96 g of silver, 2.26 g of gold. Now presented in the collection of the Diamond Fund of Russia.

Just like the crown, the orb was made for the coronation of Empress Catherine II the Great by the court jeweler Georg-Friedrich Eckart. Monomakh's hat is the main regalia of the Russian Grand Dukes and Tsars. The symbol of the crown of autocracy in Russia.

It was made in 1682 for the “duet” wedding of young Peter I to the throne - the real Monomakh hat was on the head of his brother Ivan V. Apparently, no one else used this hat. In the center of each “town” there is a large gem or a large pearl. At the bottom of the crown is attached sable fur, traditional for this type of crown - “hats”.

Today this crown is crowned with the coat of arms of Astrakhan. It was remade from the silver crown of Peter I, into which jewelers mounted about 2,500 diamonds and rubies. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was crowned with the same crown 20 years later. In 1822, the barmas were found by royal archaeologists and given to the Armory Chamber.

A copy made by the Smolensk Diamonds company in 2012. The authors did not set out to exactly repeat the original. At the bottom, the grid of hemispheres is covered by laurel branches - a symbol of power and glory, and in the drawing, garlands are placed between the hemispheres oak leaves and acorns, which symbolizes the strength and strength of power. In the Russian kingdom, Caps of the Russian kingdom were used, in particular, for coronations - the Monomakh Cap.

Also, the Russian Empire used the Ancient Royal Crown, which does not actually exist. Included in the set for the Great Imperial Crown. The large imperial crown is made in the form of a headdress. It is composed of two silver hemispheres, personifying the connection of East and West on the territory of the Russian Empire.

Yes, the crown of the widow of Peter the Great was dismantled, stripped of jewelry, which was put into further circulation. The frame made of gilded silver has been preserved in the Armory. The crown of Peter II was kept in the treasury for a year, after which it was turned into a set of stones and valuable metal scrap. Anna Ioannovna retained the imperial crown, but Elizabeth, who ascended to the throne, ordered a new crown to be made. Besides the fact that the tradition had not yet developed, the graceful daughter Peter could not stand having a heavy, old-fashioned thing placed on her pretty head, suitable only for a manly cousin. And she received a lovely openwork crown for her coronation. But it was also dismantled.

For twenty years there was no need to invent anything, but after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, the wife of the new emperor, Ekaterina Alekseevna, ordered a funeral crown. It was made by the Swiss Eckart, but the size was wrong. The Frenchman Pozier corrected the mistake by securing the crown with screws on the forehead of the deceased empress, who no longer had the opportunity to protest. The skills of both jewelers would come in handy a few months later when the coup d'état took place in June 1762. Betskoy, one of the conspirators, having hinted to Catherine about his special role in her accession, received as a favor responsibility for everything that would be on the empress during the coronation. And he got down to business. Having instructed Eckart and Pauzier to make a new, unprecedented Big Crown, Betskoy resolved the endless disputes between the two jewelers, supplied them with hundreds of precious stones and dozens of pearls from the treasury, and found scrap gold and silver. It was he who proposed to crown the crown with an unprecedented lal, brought from China under Alexei Mikhailovich. The stone was considered a ruby, but it is a closely related noble spinel. Be that as it may, he is incredibly handsome.

Coronation portrait of Catherine II. Stefano Torelli, between 1763 and 1766

The jewelers and the busy Betskoy presented the empress with a masterpiece. The finest ligature, swift laurel and oak branches, stones and pearls, skillfully built into the openwork design - all this turned the Great Crown into a symbol of the new reign, which promised to be bright, cheerful and reasonable. Compared to her predecessors, her weight was small - about two kilograms. Oddly enough, the continuity and heredity of this attribute of power was approved by Pavel Petrovich. And twice. Not only was he crowned with a crown made for his unloved mother, but he also posthumously crowned his father, who had been deposed by Catherine, with it. Since then, for a hundred years, Russian emperors have been crowned with the same Great Crown. Last time it was seen on the head of the autocrat at the opening of the First State Duma. During Great War she, along with other jewelry, was evacuated from Petrograd to Moscow.

Treasures were divided into “historically valuable” and others.

But here comes the revolution... In 1920, by decree of Lenin, the State Repository of Valuables - Gokhran - was created. In the same year, another decree organized the sale of jewelry abroad. But these are still requisitioned, “non-royal” gold and diamonds. In 1922, under the leadership of the famous professor of mineralogy Alexander Fersman, a commission worked to describe the contents of the boxes brought to the Armory in 1914. There and Big crown.

At the same time, the treasures were divided into “historically valuable” and others that could be sold off. In 1923, some of the valuables ended up in Chita. Much disappears. The collection is thinning in two ways: government sales and theft. And it’s not passionate monarchists or foreign intelligence agents who steal, as is nicely shown in the final film of the Elusive Avengers trilogy. There, the cunning staff captain Ovechkin (artist Dzhigarkhanyan) pretends to be a watchmaker, a security officer, or a proletarian and steals the crown of the Russian Empire.

But the even more cunning Danka - Ksanka - Yashka - Valerka, with the help of the repentant repeat offender Naryshkin, return the treasure to the people. No, real proletarians and security officers stole and sold them. In 1925, the collection of royal jewelry consisted of more than seven hundred items, in 2017 there were less than two hundred... The large imperial crown survived. Having shown at the 1925 exhibition, she did not go to Armand Hammer or to some super-mysterious collection. She simply hid from the people, who were solemnly declared her master. Since 1967, the crown can again be seen in the Diamond Fund. That's better. I hope it won't fit anyone's head.

Lead image: Wikipedia.org

Image for the announcement of the material on the main page: ok.ru

The luxury and radiance of the Diamond Fund’s exhibits is simply off the charts. Despite the fact that many of the jewels were sold at auction by the Bolsheviks, this museum has something to be proud of.

The Diamond Fund is located in the building of the Armory Chamber and occupies two halls there.
Peter I can rightfully be considered its founder. It was he who, in 1719, collected all the jewelry for storage in one of the rooms. In the mid-18th century they were moved to the Winter Palace, to the Diamond Room.
But the war began, and in the summer of 2014 the collection was urgently evacuated to Moscow. They were brought in eight chests without any inventory or transfer certificates. They were also accepted without verification.

For almost eight years they lay in the basements of the Kremlin, piled high with other cargo. It was only in 1922 that the chests of jewelry were transferred to Gokhran, where they began disassembling and censusing them. And, from 1926 to 1938, on the personal instructions of Lenin and the Soviet government, a lot of jewelry was sold at auctions in Europe and New York. But then they stopped.

"Seven Wonders of the Diamond Fund"

An amazingly transparent diamond of 189 carats, shimmering greenish and blue. The largest and most valuable diamond in the collection. It has 180 facets and is shaped like an Indian rose. Initially, the diamond was in India, but as a result of a series of kidnappings and sales it ended up with Count Orlov. And he, in turn, gave it to Catherine II.

This is the second most valuable diamond in the collection, also distinguished by perfect transparency, weighing 88 carats. Found in India, it has almost retained its original shape, with only a few edges slightly adjusted. On this diamond, inscriptions written in Persian are clearly visible - these are the names of its three previous owners. In 1824, for the purpose of reconciliation, this magnificent diamond was brought as a gift to Nicholas I after the brutal reprisal in Tehran of Alexander Griboyedov, our ambassador, diplomat and famous writer.

Diamond “portrait”

One of the largest, so-called portrait diamonds. He has flat shape and area - 7.5 square centimeters. And since this diamond is also completely transparent, it can be used as a portrait diamond, which, in fact, was done - a portrait of the emperor was placed under it.

The weight of this magnificent, incredibly transparent gem is 399 carats. It is he who adorns the Russian Great Imperial Crown.

It is also one of the most famous and valuable stones, weighing 136 carats. It is very beautiful rich color and step cut. It looks very beautiful framed with diamonds and silver grape leaves.

Legendary, the world's largest faceted sapphire at 260 carats. Its upper surface has more than a hundred edges. This beautiful stone in an openwork frame, emphasizing its beauty, Alexander II purchased it in London in 1862 for his wife.

Absolutely unique stone weighing 192.6 carats, unusually transparent, with a magnificent cut.

Imperial scepter

The scepter with a double-headed eagle on top was made for Catherine II. Since 1774 it has been decorated luxury diamond"Orlov", presented by the Count to his Empress.

Imperial power

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Height with cross 24 cm Ball circumference 48 cm" border="0" vspace="5">!}

Imperial power 1762 Gold, diamonds, sapphire (200 carats), diamond (46.92 carats), silver
Height with cross 24 cm Ball circumference 48 cm

The orb, otherwise called the “Tsar’s Apple,” is the creation of the jeweler Eckart, made for the coronation of Catherine II. Already under Emperor Paul I, it was additionally decorated with a magnificent sapphire and diamond.

Great Crown of the Russian Empire

This crown, rightfully considered the most beautiful and expensive in the world, is the creation of court jewelers Georg-Friedrich Eckart and Jeremiah Pozier. It was also created on behalf of Catherine II for her coronation in 1762 in record time - just two months. After the revolution, this main symbol of the Russian Empire was in Ireland for about 30 years; the crown was transferred there as collateral for the services rendered financial assistance. They were able to buy this masterpiece only in 1950, when the crown returned to Moscow.

Other museum exhibits

Previously, it was assumed that it was made for Elizaveta Alekseevna by the Duval brothers. Now they believe that the crown was created by the jeweler Zeftigen for Maria Alexandrovna.

Crown of Empress Anna Ioannovna

A magnificent crown, sparkling with two and a half thousand precious stones inlaid into its silver frame. Dark red tourmaline taken from the crown of Catherine I was also used as decoration.

Diamond diadem of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna

This tiara, set with a pink diamond, is from the wedding set of the Grand Duchesses of the House of Romanov.

Large agraf buckle and earrings

The portrait of the emperor is not enclosed under glass; it is covered with an extraordinary diamond of rare purity.

Badges of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called

Decoration of the order's hat

One of the badges of the Order of St. Catherine.

Order of the Golden Fleece

This ancient and honorable order was established back in 1429. They were awarded only to representatives of the most ancient noble families.

Medallion with emerald

"Big Bouquet"

Portbouquet

This decoration was pinned on the dress as a miniature vase into which small bouquet fresh flowers.

Tourmaline pink

The rare beauty of the stone was presented to Catherine II by King Gustav III of Sweden during his visit to Russia in 1777. For a long time They thought it was a ruby. Its engraving in the form of a bunch of grapes is very unusual.

Parure "Bow-slavage" of Empress Catherine II

Title="Bow-klavage and earrings of Empress Catherine II. Silver, diamonds, spinels, gold
11.5x11 cm. 1764. Master Leopold Pfisterer" border="0" vspace="5">!}

Slavage bow and earrings of Empress Catherine II. Silver, diamonds, spinels, gold
11.5x11 cm. 1764. Master Leopold Pfisterer

A sklavage is a small necklace worn on wide tape made of lace or velvet. Although in fact the necklace is quite massive, it looks very light and openwork.

There are jewels of the royal Russian court among.