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On Wednesday, March 5, 2013, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History will put on display the newest addition to its famous gem collection with a butterfly brooch made of 2,300 gems. The “Royal Butterfly Brooch”, seen in an undated photo, was created in 2009 by Taiwanese jewelry artist Cindy Chao. She is donating the piece to the museum, making it the first Taiwanese-designed item in the National Gem Collection. The Royal Butterfly is composed of 2,328 gems, totaling 77 carats. It includes colored and color-changing sapphires and diamonds, rubies and tsavorite garnets. The centerpieces of the butterfly's wings are four large-faceted diamond slices. (Photo by Don Hurlbert/Smithsonian' Instutution)
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