crown jewels

British  

plural noun

1. the jewellery, including the regalia, used by a sovereign on a state occasion

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crown jewels Idioms  

1. A prized possession or asset, as in The Iliad and Odyssey are the crown jewels of ancient literature , or The software products are the company's crown jewels . This usage transfers the value of royal jewels to some other object. [Late 1800s]

2. Also, family jewels . The male genitals, especially the testicles. For example, She gave the would-be mugger a hard kick in the family jewels . A slang euphemism, the term dates from the 1970s, and the variant from the early 1900s.

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Example Sentences

Housed in the Tower of London, the massive 106 carat stone is the star of Britain's crown jewels, adorning the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

The director of the Louvre museum in Paris has resigned, months after the high-profile theft of France's crown jewels from one of the world's most visited art galleries.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026

Paramount is the only major studio to be physically located in Hollywood and its studio lot is one of the company’s crown jewels.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2026

The two Panama container terminals—Balboa on the Pacific coast and Cristóbal on the Atlantic side—were the crown jewels of the deal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 13, 2026

Fine, I thought, let him ship the crown jewels.

From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos

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