The collective term Crown Jewels denotes the regalia and vestments worn by the sovereign of the United Kingdom during the coronation ceremony and at various other state functions. The term refers to the following objects: the crowns, sceptres (with either the cross or the dove), orbs, swords, rings, spurs, colobium sindonis, dalmatic, armill, and the royal robe or pall, as well as several other objects connected with the ceremony itself.
Many of these descend directly from the pre-Reformation period and have a religious and sacral connotation. The vestures donned by the sovereign following the unction, for instance, closely resemble the alb and dalmatic worn by bishops, although the contention that they are meant to confer upon the sovereign an ecclesiastical character is in disrepute among Christian scholars.
The oldest set of Crown Jewels dating from the Anglo-Saxon period were lost by John of England near The Wash in 1216. A replacement set were made shortly afterwards which were later joined by the addition of Welsh prince Llywelyn's coronet in 1284. This replacement set was stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1303 although most, if not all, were recovered days later from the window of a London jeweller's shop with dire consequences for the owner. Since 1303, they have been stored in the Tower of London.
Oliver Cromwell melted down most of the Crown Jewels of his time after the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1649. Upon the Restoration of Charles II of England most of the regalia were replaced. The only pieces to survive from before the Civil War are three swords and a spoon.