Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals
See the National Gem Collection, including the Hope Diamond, the Carmen Lucia ruby, the Mackay emerald and diamond necklace and the Whitney Flame Topaz, alongside a walk-through mine section and meteorites visitors can touch.
The visit
Why it is worth the trip
It is the reference collection most gemmological writing measures famous stones against, and the mine section sets those stones in the geology that produced them.
Before you go
The hall is on the second floor of the National Museum of Natural History and is a permanent exhibit. A virtual tour of the same hall is published on the museum's site.
Compiled from naturalhistory.si.edu, read on August 16, 2026.
Opening times, seasons and prices change, and we are not the operator. Confirm directly with the venue before travelling. We take no commission on any visit.