PHOTO: the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire is in the Collection
of the Diamond Fund of the Russian Federation in the Moscow Kremlin

The Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire was made for the coronation of Empress Catherine II in 1762. The last Russian monarch who wore the Imperial Crown was Emperor Nicholas II, on the day of his Holy Coronation in Moscow, on 27th May (O.S. 14th May) 1896.

The Imperial Crown is a joint creation of a large number of craftsmen, but the main creators were two jewelers – the Frenchman Jérémie Pauzié (1716-1779) and the Swiss Georg Friedrich Eckart. The coronation of Catherine II was scheduled for 22nd September 1762, so there were only two and a half months for it’s preparation.

According to the surviving reports of the Diamond Workshop, it was Eckart who was given 3.96 pounds of gold and 20 pounds of silver for the manufacture of the crown and orb. A request, however, was made to Pauzié to draw a sketch of the proposed crown. The Frenchman’s version strongly resembled the crown of Empress Anna Ioannovna (1730) and looked like “an Orthodox church with its side gables and a raised central part crowned with an onion dome.” The diameter of the lower rim and the upper part of the hemispheres was almost the same, which gave the crown a bulky cylindrical shape. The arc connecting the hemispheres ended with a cross, on which a giant spinel was attached with the wide side down.

When Eckart saw the sketch, he “tore it up in anger.” The Swiss wrote a petition to Catherine with a complaint that the Frenchman’s drawing did not agree with the image of an Imperial Crown at all and was too reminiscent of a church in shape. Eckart created his own sketch of the crown, more elegant and harmonious: “the ellipsoidal hemispheres are strongly curved at the base and spread apart, making the crown look more compact. The dividing arc recessed between the hemispheres carried a cross and a giant spinel, turned wide side up. Due to the fact that Eckart made the frame openwork slotted, the finished crown turned out to be quite light in weight.”

When the frame was finished and it was time to inlay the stones, this work was entrusted to Pauzié. In preparation for the inlay, Pauzié used his original method: he made a wax model of Eckart’s slotted frame and tried different options for the arrangement of stones on it. Such a study made it possible to place each diamond in the most advantageous way, hide defects and emphasize the advantages. Pauzié was assisted in his work by six jewelers from Austria and one from France. Also involved in the creation of the crown were three Russian masters: Ivan Estifeev, Ivan Lipman and apprentice Ivan Nikiforov.

The crown was completed on time. All the masters received cash bonuses in addition to their salaries, Eckart was paid 700 rubles. Pauzié personally placed the finished crown on the head of the Empress, for fitting. Catherine II was “very pleased with it” and said she was confident that she would “somehow be able to hold the crown’s weight” on her head during the four hour coronation ceremony.

PHOTO: the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire (left), among the Imperial Regalia is laid out on a table in the Grand Kremlin Palace, in preparation for the Holy Coronation of Emperor Nicholas II in May 1896

Design of the Imperial Crown

The image of the Imperial Crown is inspired by Byzantine symbolism, each element of the decoration has a certain meaning. The two hemispheres embody the connection of East and West. At the bottom, the grid of the hemispheres is encircled by laurel branches, a symbol of power and glory, and in the garland drawing, oak leaves and acorns are placed between the hemispheres as an image of the inviolability of the monarchy.

The Great Imperial Crown reflects the change of stylistic eras: it is decorated in the spirit of early Classicism, but also bears traces of the Baroque that preceded it. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1762), massive Baroque jewelry with large precious stones of bright colors was in fashion. To give the diamonds a certain shade, a thin layer of colored foil was placed under them. From the 1760s, under Catherine II, court jewelry fashion began to change – the natural beauty of the stone began to be valued more highly, jewelry was made in more concise and restrained forms.

“I selected the most suitable materials, and since the Empress wanted not to change the crown after the ceremony, I preferred the largest stones, which were no longer in fashion, and so I created one of the most expensive jewels that ever existed in Europe. Despite the difficult task of making the crown as light as possible, using only the most necessary materials to secure the stones, it still weighed five pounds.”

– Jérémie Pauzié

A total of 5012 stones were used to decorate the crown: 75 pearls weighing 763 carats and 4936 diamonds, their total weight is 2858 carats. The height of the crown with the cross was 27.5 cm, the length of the lower circumference was 64 cm. The total weight of the jewelry is 1993.80 grams. In addition to materials from melted down jewelry from the Imperial Treasury, the work required an additional pound of gold and twenty pounds of silver for a total of 86 thousand rubles. The cost of the finished crown at the time of manufacture was estimated at 2 million rubles!

PHOTO: Emperor Nicholas II, wearing the Great Crown of the Russian Empire
on the day of his Holy Coronation in Moscow, on 27th May (O.S. 14th May) 1896

After Catherine

The new crown became the main part of the Russian Imperial Regalia and the main symbol of power, it was worn only on the most solemn occasions, and the image was used on all heraldic signs. Following the established ceremony, the Great Imperial Crown was placed on the heads of all subsequent rulers of Russia, from Emperor Paul I (1797) to Nicholas II (1896). For each of the monarchs, the crown was adjusted to personal standards, this work was entrusted only to outstanding jewelry masters. The Great Imperial Crown was an integral attribute of imperial power and was used in solemn ceremonies – holidays, receptions, even funeral processions. The last time the Great Imperial Crown was worn by Nicholas II, was in 1906, during the opening ceremony of the first State Duma on 10th May (O.S. 27th April) 1906.

After the 1917 Revolution

In 1914, the Imperial Regalia, including the Great Imperial Crown, were evacuated from Petrograd [St. Petersburg] to the Armoury Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Because of the 1917 Revolution and the ensuing Civil War, the jewels were temporarily forgotten. Only in 1920 was the Gokhran, which collected jewels from the Romanovs, the Armoury, the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as valuables confiscated from private individuals. Many of these items were later sold abroad. In 1921, an official decision was made to use the “jewelry potential” for the benefit of the Communist Party, although the first secret deals date back to 1919. Between 1922 and 1938, the Soviet government auctioned off most of the jewelry that was not recognized as “valuable” to mostly British and American buyers.

It is interesting to note that in 1920, the estimated value of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire was a staggering $52 million USD! 

Secret attempts to sell the Great Imperial Crown have been reliably confirmed, when, under the leadership of the Chekist Yakov Yurovsky (1878-1938), the Imperial Regalia and the main treasures of the Romanovs were taken from Moscow to Chita in 1923. The accidental publicity of the future deal created headlines in the international press and served as an impetus to stop the sale of crown jewels. It was this incident, which prompted Josef Stalin to issue a personal decree in 1934, ordering that the “tsar’s trinkets” were no longer to be sold and exported abroad, so as not to harm the reputation of the Communist Party.

PHOTO: “Comrade” Robert Yanovich Karklin (1892-1938) wearing
the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, Chita. 1923

In the photo above, Bolshevik thugs amuse themselves, as “Comrade” Robert Yanovich Karklin (1892-1938) – an authorized representative of the People’s Commissariat of Finance of the RSFSR under the Far Eastern Revolutionary Committee – poses with the Imperial Regalia. Karkin is seen wearing the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, while holding the Imperial Orb and Sceptre.

Up until a few years ago, this photograph, taken in 1923 in Chita, had never been published, it was kept by Karklin’s daughter Victoria, in the family’s private archive.

Today, the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire is in the Collection of the Diamond Fund of the Russian Federation in the Moscow Kremlin. According to Article No 7 of Federal Law No 41-F3 of 26th March 1998, it is part of an indivisible collection of unique jewelry in federal ownership and is not subject to alienation in any form. The Ministry of Finance of Russia is responsible for the safety of the fund, exclusion from the fund is possible only by personal decree of the president. All exhibits can only be used for exhibition and scientific activities exclusively on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. The current value of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire is too great to be calculated or estimated.

PHOTO: replica of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, recreated in 2012

Replica of the Great Imperial Crown

The idea of creating a modern interpretation of the Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire, belongs to Kristall-Smolensk – an enterprise with a world reputation, and leader of diamond processing in Russia. In tandem with its subsidiary, the Smolensk Diamonds Jewellery Group, famous for the perfect cut and impeccable setting of its jewellery.

The replica of the Russian Imperial Crown was made in 2012, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty and the 250th anniversary of the original crown.

PHOTOS: two views of the replica of the Great Imperial
Crown of the Russian Empire, recreated in 2012

More than 60 Smolensk craftsmen worked on the creation of a replica of the Great Imperial Crown for six months. It is made of white gold, encrusted with more than 11,000 diamonds of perfect cut and the highest quality. The sparkle of diamonds is accentuated by the matte brilliance of 74 natural large white sea pearls. Instead of spinel, the product contains a unique natural rubellite weighing almost 384 carats.

The creation and presentation of the Great Imperial Crown in a modern interpretation is a great opportunity to demonstrate the leading world position of the jewellery art of Russia. And two memorable historical dates were excellent occasions – 250 years since the coronation of Empress Catherine the Great (1762) and the four hundredth anniversary of the Romanov dynasty (1613).

CLICK on the image above to watch a short 2-minute VIDEO

This author has viewed both the original Great Imperial Crown of the Russian Empire in the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin, and the replica, which was on display in The Mint, located in the SS Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg. Both are exquisite works of jewellery art in their right.

© Paul Gilbert. 14 July 2025