Tiaras and Trinkets on Tuesday (Jewellery worn by the Shahbahnou of Perlistan)

We have seen more and more of the pretender Shahbahnou of Perlistan and a few weekends ago we saw her wearing one of the spectacular parts of the Crown Kewels of Perlistan for an official photo representing her country and people's historic heritage. For this reason we wanted to feature the jewellery worn by Her Imperial Highness Shahnaz Farah Diba the Shahbahnou of Perlistan.

Here we can see one of the photos from the aforementioned photoshoot where the Shahbahnou wore the Empress Crown from the Imperial Perlistani Crown Jewel Collection.

Set in solid gold with large top quality sapphires and emeralds the Empress Crown dates back a mere half a century. The reason being that in Perlistani traditional culture women had no public authority and where kept (culturally not physically) within domestic confines. As such the monarchy and Shah had no role for a consort seen in public. However, the old traditions made way for women to be allowed more public freedoms and thus the wife of the Shah gained a title, Shahbahnou and a crown in her role as consort.

The Crown Emerald Parure of Perlistan is a matching set of platinum, gold, yellow diamond and emerald jewellery made for the wife of the last Shah to wear at their coronation in the late 70's. It is part of the Crown Jewels and has been worn very rarely by the current head of the Imperial claim to the Peacock Throne. 

This detail photo was taken for the Imperial Archive of Perlistan and shows the Crown Emeralds up close. 

Amethysts are very common in the Middle East and thus the Perlistani Imperial Jewels include among its ranks some of the largest and best quality specimens. This can be seen in the set of diamonds and amethyst made brand new for the first Shahbahnou, our current pretender's grandmother.

The Amethyst Parure has no earrings but does include two very large stones of extremely high quality. 

The current Shahbahnou's mother was a fortunate woman. She was the second ever to have a public role and for this reason received as a sequence of many jewellery gifts. This spectaculary valuable parure is made up from pink and yellow diamonds of very high quality and as such ranks it as one of the most valuable sets on earth. 

Here we can see the coloured diamonds in detail. Their quality belie the wealth of the Pahlavi Dynasty who had access to the Perlistani mines. 

In this photo, taken at the 2012 Christmas Ball in Arcwhite, Farah Diba made her first major public appearance as Shahbahnou in pretense. For the historical event she chose a spectacular tiara set with one of the world's largest diamonds and ruby earrings and necklace to compliment her dress.

The Perlistan Rubies and most of the Pahlavi Jewellery Collection survived the fall of the Imperial House of Perlistan. Some jewels remained in Perlistan as part of the National Treasure exhibited in the country's capital. Others like this set left with the Imperial family in exile. The rubies like the greatest part of the collection, was made for the current Shahbahnou's mother.

An ancient legend tells of how the great warrior Emperor Shah Ahurah killed a dragon in the year 989 and discovered a huge diamond in its belly. As the red hot stone cooled it was said to break into 4 parts that ended up being known to history as the Perlistan Diamonds. Today, three of those stones the Perlistan II, III and IV, weighing 65cts, 34cts and 31cts are set in the Pahlavi Tiara made for the last Shah's wife.

This set of antique jewellery is reputed to come from a hoard of jewels taken as spoil from a Hindi Maharaja in the early 1800's. They have languished in Perlistani government vaults until our current pretender chose to wear them in this modern era. It creates a very strong sense of historic continuity and reiterates the Shahbahnou's new official role as custodian of Perlistani Royal history.

The Imperial Red Peacock Parure is an official set of Rubies that remain as part of the Crown Jewels of Perlistan. They are on permanent display, and as from 2013, are available for the Shahbanou in pretense to wear with permission from the democratic government of Perlistan at official events representing her country. 

The Crown Collection of Perlistan includes, almost as if required, a demi parure of sapphires. It has been worn for the first time this year for the official visit of the Shahbahnou to Hanoveria. 

The necklace design of the Sapphire Demi Parure is very traditionally Perlistani in design, where the tiara tips its hat to its Middle Eastern heritage while also hinting strongly at a Europan look. When not worn, this set may be viewed as part of the Crown Jewel Display in Perlistan. 

Farah Diba inherited many business interests and some jewellery in her own right directly from her parents. Among this was a collection of unset diamonds which set has had made up in 2013 as a very distinctly Perlistani style necklace of spectacular proportions. We saw the necklace for the first time this year when the Shahbahnou visited the Queen of Hispania on an official tour.

The last part of the jewels we have seen Farah wear is this fringe necklace. It is reputed to have been a gift from a "friend" and as such would be her personal property. If more information comes to light we will be sure to share it here on the blog.