Brilliant Showcase of Gems and Minerals

The American Museum of Natural History has completed a renovation of its Hall of Gems and Minerals into a new gallery space, designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates. It showcases the Museum’s remarkable collection of precious gemstones and fascinating minerals. This redesigned gallery includes a main hall with exhibits that feature stunning gems, minerals, rock formations, and new large-scale specimens. With over 105,000 minerals and 5,000 gems, the exhibits tell the history of how different types of gems and minerals formed on the planet, how scientists classify them, and how humans have utilized them for jewelry, tools, and technology. 

In the new Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, visitors are greeted by a 9-foot tall and a 12-foot tall amethyst geode from Uruguay. Priceless gems, like the largest blue star sapphire, Star of India, and the “subway garnet,” which is a 9-pound almandine garnet unearthed during a sewer dig on 35th Street in 1885. 

In order to enhance visitors’ experience with these gems and minerals, the Museum also incorporates large-scale media projections, interactive displays with time-lapse imagery, and colorful animations that all contribute to introducing visitors to the history and properties of these objects. 

kubik maltbie was responsible for the fabrication and installation of the gallery space which included an array of sophisticated, full conserved showcases produced in Scotland in close collaboration with ClickNetherfield.