iNatural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyExposition Park
Unearthed: Raw Beauty
Rare, spectacular mineral and crystal specimens, some displayed publicly for the first time.
More in Los Angeles
The first thing you meet is a whole aquamarine pocket, dug out of a mountain in Pakistan's Shigar Valley with its quartz and black tourmaline still attached. Miners usually take out only the gem crystals, not the whole pocket.
Most of the specimens are on loan from the Robert Lavinsky Collection, with some from the museum's own, in new cases and new lighting. You pass two 80-million-year-old amethyst geodes from Uruguay, a bright blue aragonite in the middle of the hall, and three cases of tourmaline from San Diego County mines. For about a decade, the best customer for that pink tourmaline was the Empress Dowager of China.
The gem sculptor Helen Serras-Herman, writing for XpoPress, called it a "state-of-the-art exhibit". The room is dark and nearly everything is behind glass, so photos are hard. The last panel tells you how to start a collection of your own. It's included with general admission and free for members.
Look for
The aquamarine pocket
Look for it at the entrance: a whole pocket from Pakistan's Shigar Valley, the aquamarine still sitting among quartz and black tourmaline.
The Chrysanthemum Stone
More than 900 pounds of black shale from Hunan, China, with celestine crystals grown through it in the shape of chrysanthemum flowers.
The blue aragonite
In the centre of the hall, a large specimen from Yunnan's Wenshan Mine, coloured bright blue by copper and formed in shimmering stalactites.
The ammolite
A large, colourful fossil ammonite from Alberta, with video of the living animal fading in and out over it.
Mother's Love
A sculpture carved from a single smoky quartz crystal from Brazil by Yan Zheng, who spent almost three years on it.
Good for
- Nerding Out
- Rainy Days
Skip if
You want to photograph everything: the room is dark and the specimens sit behind glass.
With kids
Some massive crystals are there to touch, and the fossil ammonite comes to life with an animation of the living animal.
Also at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
7
- Unearthed: Raw BeautyCourtesy of Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
- GAME ON! Science, Sports & PlayCourtesy of California Science Center
- Sculpted Portraits from Ancient Egypt© The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved
- Charles Ross: Spectrum 14Courtesy of Getty Center
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles CountyDavid Leigh Ellis / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- California Science CenterPrayitno / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Lucas Museum of Narrative ArtJeremy Thompson / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0