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This quite new mineral and gem gallery (opened September 1997) merits many compliments. Before proceeding with those, however, an admission is in order, in the interests of full disclosure. The reader must be told that I have long been associated with the Smithsonian and was, in fact, curator-in-charge of its mineral and gem collections when I retired in 1991. All I can say against the possible charge of bias is that I have done my best to produce a review that is fair and balanced. In fact, it is not based solely upon my own reactions. I have purposely invited comments from numerous friends who have also critically assessed this gallery; most, but not all, of them are involved with minerals either professionally or as collectors. With the exception of a relatively minor number of specific criticisms, the overall reaction has been enthusiastically positive.
Conflicts having been addressed, let us now enter the Janet Annenberg Hooker Halls, named for a philanthropist who had earlier donated many exceptional pieces of jewelry featuring extraordinary gemstones, and who more recently contributed major financial support for the creation of this exhibit. The first room off of the rotunda is the Harry Winston Gallery, named for the famous New York gem dealer whose research foundation also contributed funds toward its construction. This large room was designed to accommodate the immense crowds which come primarily to see the Hope Diamond. It is a light and airy room, and I found it welcoming, although others found it a waste of space. The world's most famous diamond sits in an elegant freestanding display case near the center of this large space, enabling far more visitors to view it at one time than was possible before. The Hope shares this room with four very large and mostly dramatic natural history objects that are decorative (three out of the four, at least) and intended to be suggestive of what lies beyond. These are the "Tucson Ring" meteorite, a sandstone concretion from France which is quite wonderful, an immense sheet of natural copper from Michigan, and a perfectly meaningless large group of mediocre, badly damaged quartz crystals from near Karibib, Namibia, for which the museum is alleged to have paid approximately $60,000! Vastly superior quartz specimens...