Contained deep inside the red walls of Kremlin, locked tightly between many layer of security lays the World’s largest collection of precious gems. a museum that does not make me tired… the Diamond Vault at Kremlin. Even though the room is quite dark the sparkle of precious jewels contained inside make me feel very alert.

Within the diamond vault there are twelve show cases containing the largest collection of precious jewels that I have ever seen. In one show case alone there is over 30 000 carats of diamonds. Another case I counted 191 cut diamonds ranging in size from 2 to 20 carats, surrounded by countless smaller diamonds.

A few of the famous pieces I had the pleasure of glancing at were:
The world's second largest "Orlov" brilliant diamond. The legendary Orloff Diamond weighs 189.62 carats. It was purchased by Catherine the Great at a cost of $400 000 rubles in 1770. At that time a person’s average salary was 3.5 rubles per month. It was made to look like one of Catherine’s lovers had purchased it for her in order to gain her attention, although I learned in the vault that Catherine herself made the purchase.

There were many pieces and matching sets from the first Emperor of Russia Peter. The prize piece was his crown that only contained 5000 diamonds, displayed along side are all of the other diamond encrusted items he wore at the same time.
Seriously you should come to Russia just to see this. Like most of Russian rulers traditional excess, this collection follows suit.