The Houston Museum of Natural Science's Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals and Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault are homes to more than 750 gems and minerals. Guests have access to walk-around displays lit by fiber optic lighting. In addition, the museum's gem collection highlights include a 2,000-carat emerald crystal, the largest ever discovered in North America, an 850-pound crystallized gold cluster, and the Siren of Serendip.
Emerald is a gem-quality mineral in the beryl family that forms in several rock types. Despite emerald's reputation as the most well-known green gem on Earth, emerald sites are limited to only a few locations. Still, emerald is common and popular enough to number among the "big three" gems, alongside ruby and sapphire. Together, these gems drive more economic activity each year than all other colored stones. In fact, emerald alone is more valuable than all other colored stone markets, excluding the big three.
As a colored stone known for its rich green color, emerald is almost exclusively used in jewelry making. In addition, emerald is unique in that impurities in the stone do not decrease the stone's value. Beryl crystals can grow quite large, with the world's largest emerald measuring over four feet meters in length and weighing nearly 1,200 pounds.
Gold is a metal valued for its malleability, ductile qualities, and function as a conductor of heat and electricity. It has some additional properties, including an aesthetic quality that makes it desirable for jewelry and other products. The global gold jewelry market is forecasted to eclipse $204 billion by 2030.
Crystallized gold is an even rarer and more beautiful form of the metal. Experts believe less than one-tenth of one percent of the world's gold is crystallized. Crystallized gold formed millions of years ago when gold pushed through the Earth's crust at the same location as a thermo steam vent. The steam created crystallization around the gold, resulting in gold covered with quartz. Some clusters may be infused with additional minerals like pyrite or chalcopyrite. A nugget of crystalized gold is worth far more than a comparably sized nugget of traditional bullion gold.
The Siren of Serendip is a special piece of jewelry crafted with the world's finest sapphire. The piece is widely regarded as one of Earth's top five sapphire stones. Set in a necklace crafted by London designers Ingo Henn and Idar-Ober, the sapphire weighs 422.66 carats. The original sapphire weighed approximately 2,670 carats before being cut and polished. The necklace itself features 913 individual diamonds with a combined weight of 36.3 karats, set into white gold and platinum.
Thanks to the support of several anonymous donors, the Siren of Serendip is on permanent display. It is housed not at the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals but at the nearby Lester and Sue Smith Gem Vault. To learn more about gems and minerals or to get tickets to the Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals permanent collection, please visit the Houston Museum of Science online at hmns.org.
