In the Treasure room one can see precious metals –such as silver and gold—as well as other substances reputed to be precious: rubies, topazes and emeralds, etc. All specimens, with the exception of the silver and gold, have been specially selected for their transparency, color and well expressed geometric shapes.

This room is not organized according to a traditional order. Rather, it is a free-form exhibit that highlights the esthetic aspects of the most beautiful samples, exceptional specimens and precious substances in their natural state. And so some pieces belonging to different or neighboring mineral species could be displayed together because, aside from their precious aspect, they also share similar geometric esthetics.

Special lighting systems have been designed for certain display cases in order to highlight the color variations seen in such pieces as tanzanite, the transparency and color of semiprecious stones such as peridot and tourmaline, or the details of some spectacular pieces such as fibrous gold and silver.

The hall is composed of 21 elegant display columns that allow the visitor to admire their contents from every angle, exactly as in a jewelry exhibition. Portholes in reinforced glass allow one to see the museum’s immense reception hall from the Hall of Treasures. The windows’ diamond shape mirrors the geometric “Penrose tiling” motif in brass that covers the wall on the other side.

Furthermore, the hall is in half-light and the display cases contain a minimum of information, thus bringing out the beauty of the minerals exhibited. One display case assembles three semiprecious stones—topaz, aquamarine and one of the best euclase specimens known—whose geometric shapes and transparency are so perfect that they really do look like jewels cut by nature herself.

Finally, some minerals not considered as precious stones or metals have been exceptionally included in this room. These minerals boast dazzling colors and transparency, such as rhodochrosite, or have a shape and luster comparable to that of a cut diamond, such as cerussite.