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Crown of King George I of Great Britain and Ireland

The State Crown of George I is the imperial and state crown crafted in 1714 for King George I. It was modified and used by subsequent monarchs until 1838. The empty gold frame and its aquamarine monde which dates from the reign of King James II are both part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. They are on public display in the Martin Tower at the Tower of London.

The crown, made by royal jeweller Samuel Smithin, replaced the state crown of Charles II (also used by his successors, James II, William III and Queen Anne) and incorporated some of the jewels and pearls from the old crown, with the addition of 265 new pearls, 160 diamonds, 6 emeralds and 2 sapphires, at a total cost of £1,440. Very little change was made to either the shape of the crown or the arrangement of the stones. The gold frame is tall, and the monde and cross surmounting it are tall.</blockquote>

The "balas" mentioned here is the Black Prince's Ruby, and is first mentioned in Tudor inventories as being set in a crown used by Henry VIII. The "aquamarine" dates from 1685, when it replaced the original monde in the state crown of Charles II, and was later found to be paste or coloured glass.

George I's state crown was subsequently used at the coronations of George II, for whom the arches were pulled upwards, and George III. In 1821, because it was seen as being a "very poor affair", the crown underwent extensive changes, including the replacement of the rhombus shaped monde with a globe of diamonds. It was purchased by Asprey in 1987 and later acquired by Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei, who presented it to the United Kingdom. It had been valued at £576,000 in 1995 for the purposes of an application to export the crown to the United States. The application was withdrawn during a review by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art.