The original photos from late 1800s by famous snowflake photographer Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, are stored in the Smithsonian Archives. His pictures were instrumental in helping scientists examine snow’s crystalline properties.

Smithsonian Voices

Why Scientists Find Snowflakes Cool

Mineralogists study snowflakes to learn more about how water in its solid phase behaves

A poem providing clues to the location of a treasure chest filled with gold and jewels inspired thousands to search the Rocky Mountains.

Cool Finds

Decade-Long Search for Rocky Mountain Treasure Yields Trove Worth $2 Million

Nine clues embedded in a 24-line poem led to art dealer Forrest Fenn’s hidden chest of gold, gems and rare artifacts

Opalised fossils from Lightning Ridge, N.S.W, Australia. From the collection of the Australian Opal Center.
Clockwise from top left: freshwater snail; plesiosaur tooth;
crocodile tooth; pine cone; pelvis bone of ornithopod
dinosaur. Donated through the Australian Government’s
Cultural Gifts Program by (respectively) Down to Earth
Opals, Timothy Seekamp, Stephen Turner and Michael Poben.

Scientists and Miners Team Up to Preserve Opalized Fossils

An ambitious collaboration between paleontologists and a local mining community seeks to conserve the rare fossilized remains

The study's authors outline three possible scenarios for the unusual fossil's formation

Cool Finds

This 100-Million-Year-Old Squid Relative Was Entrapped in Amber

The ancient ammonite was preserved alongside the remains of at least 40 other marine and terrestrial creatures

The 8.5-millimeter millipede had five-unit compound eyes and an unusually hairless rear end

Cool Finds

This Petite, 99-Million-Year-Old Millipede Was Entrapped in Amber

The diminutive arthropod represents not only a previously unknown species, but an entirely separate Callipodida suborder

Gemologist Brian Berger purchased the Indonesian opal last year

Cool Finds

Gemologist Finds Insect Entombed in Opal Rather Than Amber

The unusual specimen appears to contain an open-mouthed insect complete with ‘fibrous structures extending from the appendages’

What makes the Whitney Flame topaz such an astonishing acquisition is its homogeneous fiery-red. “We recognized right away that this is something different than we’d ever seen,” says Smithsonian gems curator Jeff Post.

The Whitney Flame Topaz Smolders in Vibrant Red

A new gemstone at the Natural History Museum is already igniting wonder in viewers

Cool Finds

The Odyssey of the World’s Largest Freshwater Pearl

The gem, which was was recently bought at auction, was likely found in China in the 1700s and was once owned by Russia’s Catherine the Great

The 910-carat diamond discovered in Lesotho

Cool Finds

World’s Fifth-Largest Diamond Found in Lesotho

The 910-carat gem is a D-color, type-IIa stone, meaning it is completely colorless and has no visible impurities

For the first time, scientists have created near-perfect cubic zirconia replicas of the diamond in its previous forms. From left to right: the original brought from India, King Louis XIV’s “French Blue” and the Hope Diamond.

Now There Are Near-Perfect Copies of the Hope Diamond

Scientists created cubic zirconia replicas of the historic gem’s previous forms—the original brought from India and the famous “French Blue”

The Koh-i-Noor diamond set at the front of the crown made for the Queen Mother Elizabeth, set on her coffin in April 2002.

The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond—and Why the British Won’t Give It Back

A star of London’s Crown Jewels, the Indian gem has a bloody history of colonial conquest

Monty Claw with a section of his jewelry works.

Meet the Artists Displaying at This Year’s Santa Fe Indian Market, the Largest Juried Native Art Show in the World

The annual show brings together some of the country’s best traditional and contemporary artists

Even the strongest hands might get tired wearing a 59.6-carat pink diamond.

Trending Today

This $71.2 Million Diamond Just Set a New World Record

The flawless stone has a new owner—and a new name

Nördlingen is located in a crater in southern Germany.

Europe

This German Town Is Embedded with Millions of Tiny Diamonds

Scientists estimate that Nördlingen and the surrounding area contain approximately 72,000 tons of the gemstone

Why Tomb Raiders Treated This Priceless Gem Like Trash

Why would grave robbers break into the King of Xuzhou’s tomb and leave its most priceless jade treasure behind?

A man fills up buckets with dirt while hunting for diamonds at Crater Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas.

American South

Finders, Keepers: Five of the Best Places to Go Gem Hunting in the U.S.

From diamonds to emeralds, the United States is full of buried bling

Queen Victoria's coronet

Trending Today

The U.K. Bans Queen Victoria’s Coronet From Leaving British Soil

The government has placed the artifact under an export ban in hopes a collector will keep it in-country

The 75-pound "Pearl of Puerto."

Trending Today

At 75 Pounds, This Could Be the World’s Largest Pearl

The Filipino fisherman found the massive gem over a decade ago and kept it as a good luck charm

Coober Pedy's Serbian Orthodox Church—owned by the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand—is just one of the city's otherworldly underground buildings.

Half of the Inhabitants of This Australian Opal Capital Live Underground

Unearth Coober Pedy, the Outback’s hidden city

Though the new method can't produce these large sparklers yet, it may be an important part of future diamond production.

New Research

Weird New Type of Carbon Is Harder (and Brighter) Than Diamond

Dubbed Q-carbon, the material is magnetic, emits a soft glow and can be used to grow diamonds faster and cheaper than ever before

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