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National gem collectionplanet. One of the more spectacular collections is the collection of gems in the Museum of Natural History. There you can see wonderful crystals and minerals in their natural form, as well as some of the most incredible pieces of jewelry every created. There are crowns worn by royalty, enormous diamond earrings worn by
the doomed French queen Marie-Antoinette.
They're all stunning and awe-inspiring, but nothing is more mysterious than the rare earth-green of the emerald. The Smithsonian is home to the most fabulous emeralds ever known, and we're incredibly fortunate to have them in this country.
One such emerald is the Hooker Emerald which legend has it was once part of the belt buckle of a Turkish sultan. Another brilliant example of emerald jewelry, combined with diamonds is the Spanish Inquisition necklace. It's a spectacular double row of diamond shapes, ending in a pendant of a chandelier shape with emeralds.
There is also a magnificent 37.8-carat emerald called the Chalk Emerald, that is set with diamonds and was found in the mines of Columbia. The Mackay Emerald Necklace is also set with diamonds and is a brilliant example of how a stone like an emerald, which often contains flaws or inclusions, is still a beautiful piece of gemstone jewelry.
The collection at the Smithsonian is not to be missed, not only for the incredible selection of emeralds it contains, but because it's a chance to be as close to some of the world's most fabulous gemstone necklace as most of us can ever be! We may never own anything like this, but we can dream, can't we?
Fire
The term fire is commonly used to describe a diamond, but what does it refer to? The ancient Greeks thought that fire in a diamond symbolized the eternal flame of love. Fire in a diamond is the dispersed light that appears as rainbow-like flashes of...
Carats
Many people equate the term carat with the size of a diamond, and as carat size increases, so will the carat weight. But the operative word there is weight. Carat refers to the weight of a diamond and is equal to roughly 200 milligrams which is less...
Diamond mines
the Middle Ages they were so rare and expensive that only royalty could afford diamonds. But in modern times even ordinary people are able to possess a few, thanks to the discovery of numerous diamond deposits elsewhere on the planet plus high,...
Palaeolithic age
As a species, we love to adorn ourselves with jewelry, makeup, hair accessories. We do it now to enhance our looks, to attract a mate and because it just makes us feel good about ourselves. Some forms of adornment are symbolic - like wedding rings....
Heat conduction
meaning they reduce the flow of electricity. Blue diamonds owe their semi-conductive property to boron impurities, which act as a doping agent and cause p-type semiconductor behavior. Diamonds appear cold and hard, but they're good conductors of...
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