MINERAL SCIENCES EXHIBITS: The E. Hadley Stuart, Jr. Hall of Gems and Minerals

GEMSTONES AND THEIR ORIGINS

This gallery, opened in 1985 as an extension of the original Hall of Gems and Minerals, was funded by the Deutsch and Weingart foundations. The gallery is devoted to the "natural history of gemstones" and it is arguably the most educationally stimulating part of the entire Hall of Gems and Minerals. Each of the four walls in the main portion of this gallery portray a different environment of gem deposit formation. Specially designed graphics, rough and cut gemstone specimens, dramatically lighted photographs of localities and maps provide an integrated and dynamic presentation. A favorite attraction is the large green tourmaline on quartz from the Cruzeiro mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil, that is displayed above a reconstructed pegmatite gem pocket. This gallery also contains two special educational presentations designed to appeal to young and old alike. (1) The award-winning 1980 documentary Gems of the Americas film which depicts the mining of gems in Minas Gerais, Brazil and Muzo, Colombia and (2) an interactive touch-screen audio-visual presentation added in 1989 provides a entire course in gemology beautifully illustrated and at a level that anyone can understand. Both of these presentations and the Cyberscope (now located in the Basics of Mineralogy section) were made possible through the support and encouragement of the late Alex Deutsch.

Click on the image to see some of the specimens in this exhibit.