World Jewellery Museum

Opened in 2004, the World Jewelry Museum was selected in 2013 as one of the 'World's 10 Most Beautiful Museums' alongside the Louvre Museum in France and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States, and in 2015 as one of the 'World's Top 5 Jewelry Museums to See Before You Die' alongside the Smithsonian Institution in the United States and the British Royal Collection. Located in the heart of Bukchon, where the breath of Gyeongbokgung Palace can be heard, the World Jewelry Museum is home to over 1,000 traditional ornaments collected from around the world by director Lee Kang-won, a poet and essayist who traveled as a diplomat's wife. Beyond being a gathering place for ornaments rarely found anywhere else in the world, it has earned the nickname 'Seoul's Jewel' for its unique and beautiful building and exhibition techniques. Professor Kim Seung-hoe of Seoul National University's Department of Architecture gifted the collection a beautiful and dignified building, wrapping the exterior with thickly pleated copper plates, weather-resistant steel plates, cedar, and glass, and installing stainless steel doors. The exhibition is divided into nine themes, drawing the cozy and charming alleyways of Bukchon into the building to create another layer of interest. Visitors can enjoy the amber wall containing the breath of the earth for over 50 million years, the El Dorado gold room that captivated 16th-century Europeans, the cross room that refines the heart's texture, the mask wall for meditation, the modern ornament room like walking through a forest of lanterns, and the ring wall. It operates by reservation only.

Address: 2, Bukchon-ro 5na-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Hwadong)