We also visited the Gem Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History. It was full of fabulous jewels, but I’d have to say they were pretty difficult to photograph, not really sure why. I’ll post some of the pictures that did turn out (out of many that didn’t!).

An immense beryl crystal found in the late 1980s yielded the Dom Pedro – the largest known aquamarine gem. The original crystal was almost two feet in length and weighed nearly 60 pounds. In 1992-1993, gem artist Bernd Munsteiner fashioned the gem and named it after the first two emperors of Brazil.

Matching, posted earlier: