Photos: Dazzling Minerals and Gems

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Strange objects

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, David Friend Hall

(Image credit: Photo by Robert Lorenz, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)

Diverse colorations

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, David Friend Hall

(Image credit: Photo by Joe Budd, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)

Mark J. Pospisil, curator at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, gave the display this calcite crystal on fluorite with sphalerite, which came from his collection.

Various textures

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, David Friend Hall

(Image credit: Photo by Joe Budd, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)

A calcite crystal with marcasite and galena is on loan from the Mark J. Pospisil collection as well.

Breath-taking hues

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, David Friend Hall

(Image credit: Photo by Joe Budd, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)

This 2-lb. (0.9 kg), electric-blue tanzanite crystal, on loan from Robert Lavinsky, is one of the largest samples of its kind in the world, according to the Yale museum.

Enviable colors

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, David Friend Hall

(Image credit: Photo by Jeff Scovil, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)

An aquamarine crystal from Eugene and Rosalind Meieran's collection brings an ethereal glow to the exhibit hall.

Odd and interesting

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, David Friend Hall

(Image credit: Photo by Joe Budd, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)

Another item from the collection of Mark J. Pospisil, this composite of an aquamarine crystal with albite (a feldspar mineral that contains sodium) waits to astonish guests.

Nature's creativity

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, David Friend Hall

(Image credit: Photo by Thomas Spann, courtesy of Yale Peabody Museum)

This splendid kunzite crystal from the collection of Jim and Gail Spann displays more of the colorful creations found in nature.