Precious stones

Displayed under the motto 'Treasures of the earth' are dozens of kinds of precious stones from all over the world, raw and uncut as well as magnificently cut specimens. Although not a large collection, this is amongst the most beautiful and precious collections in western Europe, on account of its consistently high quality..(Click on the images for a closer look.)

Amethyst These precious stones are amongst the principal types of the so-called quartz group, to which rock crystal also belongs. The violet colour stems from iron , manganite and titanium.. The most important deposits are in Brazil, Uruguay, Madagascar, the Ural Mountains and France.

Rock crystal These large crystals consist of almost one hundred percent quartz, the most common mineral on earth. The crystals generally have a hexagonal prism with pyramidal end faces. There are important deposits in the Alps, the Ural Mountains, Brazil and Madagascar.

Opal Opal is a non-crystalline rock formed through dehydration of a siliceous gel. Opal occurs in all sorts of colour variations. Well-known deposits occur in the Czech Republic, Mexico, North America and Australia.

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