National Museum of Natural History - Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals

Slideshow | Lightbox (61) Tags: history jewelry museums smithsonian usa washington-dc Posted: June 29, 2009 by Val

Location of Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems
and Minerals on map: it's on the second floor of the museum

Layout of Hall of Geology, Gems and
Minerals

Arguably, the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals is the most interesting of all 18 exhibition halls of the National Museum of Natural History. It is located on the second floor of the museum (see the second floor map on the left side of the page) and occupies rather large space with seven galleries dedicated to gems, minerals and rocks as well as several thematic collections such as mine, plate tectonics, meteorite and solar system galleries (see map on the right side of the page). To explore the whole collection, you will need at least one hour and half. Most visitors spend considerably more time during the first part of the tour covering gems. The latter, I believe, is what makes the Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals especially interesting and, should I say, refreshing after endless displays with bones, fossils and stuffed animals in the rest of the museum.

Harry Winston Jewelers, 5th
Avenue, New York City,
Image courtesy of
Wikipedia, David
Shankbone

The tour starts at the Harry Winston (an American jeweller who donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade) where the famous Hope Diamond is on display. By the way, the name of the stone has nothing to do with hope (as a wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment) - as many other exceptional gems and jewelry creations, it is name so after Henry Philip Hope (lived in 19th century) who once own this large, 45.52 carats fancy blue diamond. There is a lot written about it (for example, read this Wikipedia article to learn more about this extraordinary gem), so I am not going to repeat here what is known about its history and properties. Just be warned - usually, there are crowds around its case in the Harry Winston Gallery - the most popular place in the museum. If you are visiting the museum on a weekend day, come early in the day and make it your first stop.

Adjacent to the Harry Winston Gallery is the National Gem Collection Gallery where you can enjoy many remarkable pieces of jewelry that are exceptional for their artistic qualities as well as the size and number of gems used to create them. If you have not seen jewelry like this, the National Gem Collection Gallery is an opportunity for a unique experience you will not regret. I would like also to mention that this rare display of splendor has been made possible by generous donations of many people who once owned may of the items in the gallery.

Below is a gallery covering Harry Winston Gallery, Gem Collection Gallery and Minerals and Gems Gallery.

Trivia: Carat and Karat

If you are going to read any of the captions in the gallery below, you may be wondering what a carat is. Gemstone weight is measured in carats. 142 carats is equal to one ounce. However, gold is measured in karats. For instance, 24 K gold means that 24 of the 24 parts of the metal are gold. 18 K means that 18 parts of the 24 are gold

Entrance to the Hall Of Geology, Gems and Minerals	Crowds around Hope Diamond in Harry Winston Gallery	The 45.52-carat Hope Diamond with 45 more white diamonds on its necklace	Huge crystal of quartz in Harry Winston Gallery
The surface of the iron meteorite - this cosmic voyager is now in the Harry Winston Gallery together with Hope Diamond	These crystal of quartz guard the entrance to the National Gem Collection Gallery	Montana Sapphire Butterfly "Conchita" - 27.87 carat	Trivia: Birthstones - January: Garnet - February: Amethyst - March: Aquamarine, bloodstone - April: Diamond - May: Emerald - June: Moonstone, pearl, alexandrite - July: Ruby - August: Peridot, sardonyx - September: Sapphire - October: Opal, tourmaline - November: Topaz, citrine - December: Turquoise, zircon
Peterson Tanzanite Brooch with pair of tanzanite gems about 30 carats and 24 carats of diamonds. Designed by Harry Winston in 1991.	These diamonds looked more spectacular than Hope Diamond	Marie Louise Diadem with more than 1000 diamonds totaling 700 carats and Persian turquoise	Napoleon Diamond Necklace - 172 diamonds, total 260 carat in silver setting.
Chalk Emerald, 37.8 carat, Colombia. Surrounded by 60 diamond of 15 carat total	Inquisition Necklace with 15 Colombian emeralds and 336 diamonds. The emerald at center is 45 carats.	Ruby and Diamond bracelet - contains 31 Burmese rubies with the total of 60 carats. The color of rubies is called "pigeon blood"	Natural Corundum crystals - the second hardest natural mineral known to mankind. There are two main varieties of corundum - ruby, when it is red, and sapphire, when it is blue. In reality, sapphire can be almost of any color.
Logan Sapphire Brooch - one of the largest blue sapphire gems, 423 carat, from Sri Lanka. Framed by 20 diamonds (16 carat)	Bismark Sapphire Necklace - 98.6 carat, Sri Lanka, deep blue sapphire set in a diamond and platinum necklace by Cartier	Hall (Evelyn Annenburg) Sapphire and Diamond Necklace - 36 sapphires, total 195 carats. Contains 435 diamonds weighing 84 carats. Designed by Harry Winston.	Hooker (Janet Annenberg) Yellow Diamonds - 50 diamonds, 245 carats. Matching earclips (two diamonds 25.3 carats each) and ring (61.1 carats) are not shown
Mackay (Anna Case) Emerald and Diamond Necklace - 168-carat Mackay Emerald was found in Muzo, Columbia and set in a necklace designed by Cartier	Gachala Emerald - uncut crystal of 858 carats found in Colombia in Vega de San Juan mine	Indian Emerald Necklace - 24 emerald drops set in a platinum necklace with hundreds of smaller diamonds. Designed by Cartier.	Maximilian Emerald Ring containing a 21-carat step-cut emerald. Designed by Cartier
Aquamarine, 1000 carats, found in Minas Gerais, Brazil	Uncut crystal of Beryl (variety Aquamarine), Minas Gerais, Brazil. The weight of this crystal is 6.7 lb, or 3.1 kg, or 15,256 carats	Pearson (G. Barton, Jr.) Diamond, South Africa, weighing 16.72 carats - it is perfect white.	Hazen (Lita Annenberg) Diamond Necklace - 325 diamonds (total 131.4 carats) in a platinum necklace designed by Harry Winston
Victoria-Transvaal Diamond Necklace, 67.9 carats, Transvaal, South Africa. The central champagne-color diamond was cut from the 240-carat crystal. The necklace consists of 108 diamond with total weight of 45 carats and was designed by Baumgold Brothers.	Diamond 18-karat gold brooch with 71 diamonds from 0.3 to 2.5 carats (total weight 61.3 carats). Matching ring with yellow diamond of 22 carats is not shown.	Thompson (Libbie Moody) Diamonds - 36.73-carat brooch and 39.58-carat earclips. In addition, 20 white diamonds accentuate central cognac-color diamonds that were cut from one 264 carat crystal. Designed by Harry Winston.	Mystery Diamond Necklace - although not the largest diamond in the collection, it illustrates the clever design of the diamond setting where the stone seems to be significantly heavier than it actually is.
Amethyst specimen, Brazil - amethyst is a purple variety of quartz.	Uncut and unpolished malachite is not pretty to say the least.	Malachite with azurite, Morenci, Arizona.	Turquoise (Arizona) on the left, Turquoise Zuni bracelet (Arizona) on the right.
Cavansite (CAlcium VANadium SIlicate) with stilbite and calcite from Poona, Maharashtra, India.	Fluorite, Cumbria, England	Spodumene (variety kunzite), 396.3 carats, with pearls and diamonds, Afghanistan.	Orthoclase (variety moonstone) from Sri Lanka, 104.5 and 150.2 carats.
Labradorite (Calcium sodium aluminum silicate) - beautiful mineral escavated Paul's Island in Labrador, Canada.	High-quality labradorite samples with good iridescent qualities are used for jewelry with stunning results	Oligoclase (variety sunstone), Tvedestrand, Norway	Opal, Clover Creek, Idaho. Opal can be almost of any color with reds against black the most rare, and white and greens the most common.
Some varieties of opal in its natural state are not very appealing like the one shown here.	Celestite (or Celestine), Madagascar. The mineral is named for its delicate bluish-greyish color - no photograph can render accurately this natural wonder.	Close-up shot of Fluorite specimen (Cave in Rock, Illinois). Fluorite usually fluoresces under ultra-violet light, a property that takes its name from this mineral.	Beryl, Brazil. Varieties of beryl have been considered gemstones since prehistoric times, and there are many of them: morganite, bixbite, aquamarine, maxixe, goshenite, heliodor and, of course, emerald.
Aquamarine (Gilgit, Pakistan) - a blue or turquoise variety of beryl. This specimen is with muscovite.	Aquamarine, close-up.	Amblygonite (with cosphorite), Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is used as a source of lithium and gemstone.	Barite (or Baryte), Elk Creek, South Dakota. Although barite contains barium (a heavy metal), it is not considered toxic because it is not soluble.
Elbaite, Mozambique. This is a mineral of the tourmaline group and often used as a gemstone because of the variety and depth of its colors.	Another magnificent specimen of elbaite (Brazil) with quartz on albite base	This is not a gemstone - this is a gold nugget, a naturally occurring piece of native gold.	Another gold nugget found in California. This one, in addition to being gold, has an interesting shape - I think it was be created by treating high grade gold quartz with Hydrofluoric acid to etch away the quartz.
Before visiting this museum, I have seen platinum nuggets like this only on photos.	Azurite with malachite (Bisbee, Arizona). Azurite is a soft, deep blue mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. Despite its wonderful blue, it has limited use as a gemstone because of tendency to lose its deep blue color.