St Edward's Sapphire is an octagonal, rose-cut sapphire that forms part of the British Crown Jewels. Its history is older than any other gemstone in the royal collection. The stone is thought to have been in the coronation ring of Edward the Confessor, known later as St Edward, who ascended the throne of England in 1042, twenty-four years before the Norman conquest. Edward, one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England, was buried with the ring at Westminster Abbey in 1066. It was reputedly taken from the ring when Edward's body was re-interred at Westminster Abbey in 1163.