Huge sculpture of Rutilated Quartz (it is three pieces) from Bahia, Brazil

Place: Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Museum
5345 Armada Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008

Scheduled Tour (make sure to email guestservicesmailbox@gia.edu to schedule your tour, they won't let you pass the gate otherwise)

Closeup, this Rutilated Quartz sculpture weighs 800 pounds!

The tour was very informational, and the aspect I enjoyed most was the entire ambiance of the facility. The bright and open atmosphere was reflective, shiny and truly captured what a gem-filled building should be like. The tour was an hour long, and although many of the facts and figures shared were not new to me, I learned an interesting fact about opals. I wondered why the opals were displayed with tiny shot-glass size amounts of water--well, the opals need moisture since they tend to dry out if they are not exposed to any. News to me! It's always fun to learn new things, but even better to see cases upon cases of gemstones. Each case was labeled with several examples of each, anything from maw sit sit, to tourmaline, to zircons.

Each picture highlights my favorite parts of the GIA Museum.

Some examples of gemstones

Rough diamonds on an old sketch

"El Itoco" Emerald: 471.6 carats!

Love these earrings with the stones cut into star shapes

21,290 carats of Rock Crystal: took 500 hours to cut, one of the largest stones cut to date

Shovel full of a variety of gemstones, the ultimate gift I want this

For more information about GIA, including featured exhibits.