The Savannah morning news., 1901-03-07
QUEEN vICToRIA's JEwELRY,
Had Many Beautiful and Interesting
I Things of Great Value.
From the London Express.

FROM the LONDON Express.
The jewels of the Crown, the regalia, as
they are called. are quite distinct from the
personal property of the sovereign, and in
clude such emblems of sovereignty as
crowns, scepters, state bracelets, jeweled
orbs and the valuable collections of in
taglios and canoes, which include the
seals and signets of the English kings
from the Middle Ages onward.
The total value of the regalia excedes
e, 5000, the great ruby alone in the
crown made for Queen Nictoria's corona
ton being valued at 100000. One of the
most important and historically valuable
of the regalia is st. Edwards Crown,
which is always carried on the occasion Of
each successive coronation, while the
Queen Consort's Crown, made for Mary
of Modena. wife of James ii, is also a
most interesting relic of English history,
and will by be used again for Queen
Alexandra at the coronation.
The Imperial State Crown made for
Queen Victoria in 1898 contains the most
remarkable individual jewel belonging to
the Crown, the great ruby given to Ed
ward the Black Prince by the King OF
CASTLE. circlet of open work in silver
contains the great sapphire from the
crown of Charles ii, which was be-
queathed to George III by Cardinal York,
with other Stuart treasures, while the
clusters of colored stones are relieved by
trefoils OF diamonds. Altogether the
crown contains besides the great ruby and
sapphire, eleven emeralds, four rubies,
sixteen sapphires 277 pearls. and 27SS dia-
monds The journeys of the crown arc
performed I'm a specially constructed box
lined with white velvet and the velvet
cap turned up with minever which is al
ways worn with it is placed in the same
luxurious receptacle.
The jeweled orbs, which also form an
important item in the ceremonial of the
coronation are of very ancient origin in
connection with the loyal insignia, and
an orb surmounted by the cross was an
ancient Christian emblem first found in
the time of Edward the Confessor.
Bracelets have from earliest times been
emblematical of sovereignty, and were
worn by the kings Of Babylon and AS
syria Even now, in Persia, only the
Shah himself or his sons may wear them.
They we're used at the coronations of va
Iious English monarchs. notably those of
Richard ii, Henry VIII, Edward vi,
Mary. and Elizabeth.
The bracelets which are at present
lmong the Crown insignia are supposed
to have been those made for Charles III
and are one and a half inches in breadth
and two and a half inches in diameter.
They are of solid gold, lined with Grim
son velvet, and bear the embems of the
three Kingdoms and the heur-de-lis of
France In exquisite champleve enamel
work. The Irish harp is In pale blue
enamel, the rose Of England in deep
crimson, the thistle in pale greens and
puppies, and the neur-de-lis in a rich
deep yellow.
The plate used on state occasions at
the royal palaces, valued at several mill
lions, is also crown property and is
transported from Windsor to London for
the various state functions in the shape
of court balls. concerts, or dinners. Owing
to the fact that In the reign Of Charles
/ everything Of value was melted down,
the crown gold plate Is comparatively
modern. The magnificent gold dinner SER
wee for 100 people was made by Rondell
& Bridges, who were also intrusted with
the making of the crown for Queen Vic
toria's coronation. Besides the service
there are some hundreds of gold plates
for use at the state balls. All the gold
plate Is kept at Windsor la what is
known as the gold pantry. in contradis-
tinction to the silver pantry, which con-
tains, besides hundreds of magnificent
salvers and bowls, two complete services.
which are not infrequently used together
Tho Lion" service and the Grown"
FtIFlcti eacH comprising some seventy
dozen plates. In addition TO the Crown
plate the late Queen had a great deal
Of both silver and gold articles OF SER
vice which were personal gifts. and Of
these were pair Of beautiful silver dish
cs presented by the Emperor Napoleon
III and the Empress Eugene, which
were Ia constant Use by her late Majesty.
The famous KOh-i-n0or Is not, as Is
usually supposed. part OF the regalla, but
was the private property OF Qusen Vic
toria. who had u made intO a brooch,
which was kept al Windsor and worn oc-
casionally at state functions. II was ex-
hibited at the great exhibition OF 1861 and
"a that time was valued ~ 10000. Ia It's
original uncut state II weighed 800 karats.
but after being cut ana redut its weight
o. now only some l0G kaTats
A curious superstition attaches 10 this
stone boo India, namely. thaf N carries
Nth b The sovereignty Of Hindustan. ana.
whether there BE- any credsncr given 10
ihls belief over here or not. % 10 certain
saal tne k0h-i-naar i8 40 carefully prGs