Museu Amsterdam Sauer

Founded in 1989, the museum was a turning point for the preservation of Brazilian gemological memory. The space gathers around three thousand elements, which make up a large collection of gemstones – a result of the passion of the precious stones hunter Hules Sauer. Among other valuable pieces, the museum carries the only replica of the Imperial Crown of D. Pedro II, the most important jewelry in Brazilian history.

Some pieces are featured in the Guinness Book (the book of records) due to its gigantic dimensions and rarity. Visitors may admire, for example, the largest rough alexandrite ever found in the world, with 122,400 carats (24,48kg), originally from the district of Jaquetó, in the south of Bahia; a transparent topaz of 68kg, one of the world’s biggest; a 64kg transparent quartz cluster and rough rubellites extracted from the Jonas mine, one of the most important discoveries in the world. Scenographic mines transport visitors to the place where the gems were formed, millions of years ago, and present the extraction process, which makes the experience even more fascinating.