Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Earth's Treasures

Inside this 20,000-square-foot exhibition, you can explore from the center of the Earth to the vast reaches of the solar system.

See the sparkling highlights of the National Gem Collection, including the 168-carat Mackay emerald and diamond necklace and the massive Carmen Lúcia ruby (one of the largest rubies ever found). Learn how meteorites brought minerals to Earth. See lava and ash samples from three famous volcanoes. Explore gem and mineral specimens of every size, shape, and color of the rainbow.

Rocks and minerals are the very foundation of our planet.

Did you know?

Citrine, a gem variety of quartz, gets its gorgeous smoky yellow hue from iron impurities within the mineral

Look For

Three people look through display glass at the Hope Diamond. — The Hope Diamond—a world-famous, 45.5-carat blue diamond donated to the Smithsonian by Harry Winston in 1958 and seen by more than 100 million people since then.

Red and blue colored balls represent a 3-D model of a salt crystal. — A 3-D model of a salt crystal (1.5 billion times the actual size!)

A display of live seismic activity in the Gems & Minerals Hall. — The real-time display of global earthquake data. Maybe you’ll see seismic activity as it happens!

a red topaz gem — The Whitney Flame Topaz, one of the finest imperial, or “precious,” topaz gems in the world

Things To Do

Learn the difference between a mineral and a rock—and see a diversity of examples of both.
Step into the Mine Gallery and walk through reproductions of four real American mines.
Try the “Make an Impact” meteorite interactive: choose your meteorite size, speed, and other characteristics, then see how big of an impression your meteorite makes!

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