Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems
Patricia Emerald
Resources For Educators: Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems
Gem Pocket
Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems main content.
Sapphires.
The halls of gems and minerals are closed for a major renovation.
The Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems exhibits an array of precious and ornamental stones—uncut, polished, and even a few set in elaborate pieces of jewelry—as well as organic materials such as coral and amber that are prized as gems.
Drawn from the Museum's collection of more than 100,000 minerals and gems, specimens in this hall are organized by mineral group, including diamond, sapphire and ruby, emerald and other beryls, opal, garnet, and many others. Rare and unusual gems, synthetic gemstones, and precious metals such as gold, platinum, and silver are also on display. Several exhibit cases feature decorative objects and jewelry spanning three millennia and various cultures.
The hall also features a re-created gem pocket—a crystal-filled cavity—found in the mountains of San Diego County in California. This natural cavity in pegmatite rock holds seven types of large crystals, including tourmaline, beryl, spodumene, quartz, and albite.
In This Hall
Exhibit Patricia Emerald The Patricia Emerald is a large and superbly colored specimen. At 632 carats, the dihexagonal, or twelve-sided, crystal is considered... Exhibit Star of India At 563 carats, the Star of India is the world's largest gem-quality blue star sapphire. Some 2 billion years old, it is also one... Educator Materials Resources For Educators: Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems Exhibit Gem Pocket Reconstructed here is a tourmaline gem pocket discovered in the mountains of San Diego County, in southern California. Exhibit Sapphires Gems that are transparent, like these sapphires, are normally faceted. Exhibit Quartz The water-clear quartz known as rock crystal was believed by the ancient Greeks to be permanently frozen water.