The Kiani Aigrette

This aigrette was a favorite of Fathali-Shah Qajar, and his portraits often show him wearing it on the front of the Kiani crown, along with three black feathers which signified royalty and were from Turkmenistan.

The stones used in the aigrette, consisting of diamonds, emeralds, spinels and rubies, are of excellent quality. The back of the aigrette is entirely of gold with a beautiful design.

The aigrette was held in place with three pins: two 10-cm (4 in.) pins pointing down, and one 5.5 cm. (2 in.) pin pointing up.

The total height of the aigrette is 20.5 cm. (8 in.) The two largest emeralds in the center are approximately 55 cts. each, and the smaller two emeralds located beneath them are 7 and 9 cts. each. The two spinels are 60 and 65 cts. each. The clear diamond to the left of the lower spinel is 22 cts., and the clear diamond to the right of the same spinel is 25 cts. The yellow, semi-round diamond is approximately 16 cts. There are three rows of rubies in the feather motif on top.


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