Mineralien Hamburg 2014, 37th International Show for Minerals, Fossils, Gemstones and Jewellery, runs at the Hamburg Fair site from 5 to 7 December 2014. It is the fourth biggest minerals show worldwide, presenting rare and unique minerals, precious stones and fossil finds from the early periods of the Earth’s history. Jewellery makers present their latest designs and unique hand-made creations from precious stones. Visitors can get extensive advice throughout the three days of the show, and select really special Christmas gifts. Altogether there will be more than 400 exhibitors from 35 nations presenting their exceptional items.

Great Britain Special

Mineralien Hamburg 2014 includes a special on "Majestic stones from the realm of the Queen” with a range of unique exhibits. Particularly impressive minerals from Britain that can be seen at the special show come from the private mineral collection of Ian Jones from Cardiff. He presents not only very impressive items from Wales and England, but also paracelsian, one of the most curious minerals in existence. His most prominent piece is also the largest specimen in the world.

Another highlight will be the colourful exhibits of the Camborne School of Mines, Cornwall. The region has a long tradition of mining, and is famed for the rare crystals found here of copper, chalcocite and bournonite, and rare minerals such as botallackite, liroconite and rashleighite. The Natural History Museum in London, which is the largest natural science museum in the UK, presents its top exhibits not only from the many classic mineral regions of Britain, but also some minerals classified as world class from the historic Harz mining region, including the world’s biggest apophyllite specimen from St. Andreasberg and various manganite stages from Ilfeld, Lower Harz.

Gemstone of the year

Amethyst is the gemstone of the year 2014. Amethyst is a quartz variety characterised by its violet colour. It is particularly valuable in a transparent, pure, medium to dark violet tending neither towards blue nor to red. The world’s most significant amethyst sites are in Brazil, Uruguay, Madagascar, Russia, Austria (Maissau), and Sri Lanka. Mineralien Hamburg 2014 presents impressive amethysts from all parts of the world. They range from uniquely crystallised rough stones to specially cut gems, to precious jewellery made from amethyst.

Film and presentation forum

Mineralien Hamburg 2014 also features a well-attended film and presentation forum. To celebrate the “International Year of Crystallography 2014”, declared by the Assembly General of the United Nations and conducted under the leadership of UNESCO, presentations will be held to mark the centenary of the origin of modern crystallography and underscore its importance. The numerous presentations include school students with their presentations from Germany’s award winning school project “Geo-System Earth”.

Consulting service

Visitors who are uncertain in their choice of precious stones can get advice from the consulting service at Mineralien Hamburg 2014. They can for example get free-of-charge advice to check that exhibits they purchase here are genuine.

Hits for kids

Young researchers and amateur mineralogists can explore the vast range of precious objects and exciting hands-on activities in the four halls of the exhibition. For example, young geologists can try their hand at panning for gold, and find little gold nuggets; or join in the activities with polishing opals, preparing fossils and cracking geodes. And, best of all, these supervised hands-on activities not only have a long-lasting learning effect, but are also a lot of fun. Another very popular feature for visitors is the supervised kindergarten.

Further highlights

For the first time, Mineralien Hamburg 2014 presents stone engravers from Idar-Oberstein. Visitors can watch them at work. And the newly crowned German Gemstone Queen, Sonja Mzyk, will be present at the show, putting the spotlight on the German Gemstone Route (Idar-Oberstein).

Opening times and admission charges

Mineralien Hamburg 2014 will be held from 5 to 7 December, with opening times 10am to 6pm. Admission charges: day ticket €10 (concession €8), 3-day ticket €18, family ticket €18, last-minute ticket (valid from 3pm) €5, children under 6 free of charge.