Things to Do in National Jewelry Treasury

Marvel at the Peacock Throne

You'll find yourself nose-to-glass with the most ostentatious seat ever built. Sunlight catches 26,733 gemstones and makes the whole room shimmer in green-gold flashes. The throne smells faintly of rosewater polish. When guards rotate the velvet-lined platform you can hear tiny tinkling sounds as unsettled sapphires settle back into their settings.

Sea of Light Diamond viewing

The 182-carat pink stone hangs in a glass cylinder that slowly rotates, so you'll see it catch fire, first white, then a slow blush pink. Your own reflection ghosts in the glass and looks suddenly under-dressed. A faint electric hum comes from the motor. Collective gasps rise when the facet facing you throws a perfect six-rayed star onto the ceiling.

Naderi Throne walk-around

Unlike its peacock cousin, this throne invites you to circle it completely. Mirrored in its golden panels you'll see yourself fractured into a hundred tiny courtiers. The metal feels warm under gallery lights. If you crouch you'll notice the boot prints of centuries-old coronation carpets still pressed into the lower rungs.

Jewel-encrusted globe spin

A 34-kilogram world map where oceans are emeralds and countries are rubies, Iran naturally picked out in diamonds, spins slowly on its axis. When the motor clicks you'll hear a soft tick like a distant metronome. The smell of machine oil mingles with the sweeter scent of polished gemstones.

Crown Jewels vault corridor

Between exhibits you walk down a brushed-steel hallway that echoes every footstep. The lights dim so your eyes readjust and the next room's sparkle hits harder. The temperature drops a degree or two, giving you that cellar-on-a-hot-day shiver. You can almost taste the coppery zing of old coins stacked somewhere out of sight.

Ferdowsi neighborhood, crumbling Qajar mansions turned hostels where reception smells like cardamom tea

Baharestan Square, walking distance to parliament and treasury, street vendors sell saffron ice-cream at dusk

Tajrish, leafy uphill lanes, cooler air, rooftop cafés facing the Alborz foothills

Tehran Grand Bazaar district, budget guesthouses above spice arcades, wake to clattering tea glasses

Elahieh, embassy quarter, wide sidewalks, evening smell of jasmine from walled gardens

Enghelab, student zone, second-hand bookstalls, midnight kebab smoke drifting over traffic