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AL ORDWAY COLLECTION
ex. Al Ordway
A striking, very lightweight plate of a snow-white pseudomorph of tincalconite after sharp, tabular borax crystal, from the U.S Borax Mine of California. Complete all-around and pristine, this is also a rare and very unusual pseudomorph. Excellent material from this famous district. They are so lightweight you really have trouble believing these are natural crystals, but they are.
ex. Al Ordway
A large, 6.5 cm long, well-formed beryl crystal exhibits good luster, minor translucence and a creamy color. Anhedral quartz is attached to the base of the beryl crystal. This is classic material from a rare, old East Coast locality, seldom seen. Believe it or not, this is what passes for extremely elegant for the material from this locality, and it is in fact colored a blush pale pink in person, in some places. Others might call it a goshenite, but locals definitely call these morganite for that blush. The crystal has one best display angle where it shows a great beryl shape the best. It is , unlike most, not repaired and is well terminated with a medium-lustrous termination that is , again, better than the examples one normally sees from here. Al found this lucky find in an old collection.
ex. James and Dawn Minette
A well-formed, long prismatic inderite crystal of lustrous and translucent pale white color. The crystal exhibits an unusually sharp termination. Inderite is a hydrated magnesium borate and this is a superb example of the species. It was collected by Jim Minette in 1959 and sold to me by him in around 1998 or so. I then sold it on and got it back recently. It fits well into this larger update of pieces from Jim's contemporary and fellow borate-lover, Al Ordway.
ex. Al Ordway
Thin veins of lustrous and translucent, strawberry colored gillespite are emplaced in beautifully color contrasting white barite. Gillespite is a rare barium, iron silicate. This is a very rich, colorful, superb piece of the material. Interestingly, it was a gift to Al from well-known San Diego collector, heiress Josephine Scripps, in 1980. She herself was an active field collector and often went to Mexico in search of finding her own minerals, so it is likely she self-collected this.
ex. Al Ordway
This specimen is composed of chalky, snow-white crystals, to 3 cm across, of Inyoite that have been now completely replaced by meyerhoffite. Minor edge luster can be discerned as you catch the minute crystallization in the light. This is a relatively large and a very sharp, aesthetic example of this rare replacement. Collected by Jim Minette in 1968
ex. Al Ordway
Emanating from a sliver of matrix is an aesthetic, radiating cluster of acicular, lustrous and translucent, colorless crystals, to 2 cm in length. This specimen was collected in 1970 by Jim Minette with Dave Wilber. Superb example for this rare species
ex. Al Ordway
Perched aesthetically, high on matrix, is an equant, lustrous and translucent, colorless crystal of adularia, measuring 3 cm on an edge or 4 cm tall. It is sharply twinned. Adularia is a variety of orthoclase, and this classic, glassy crystal perched up on matrix is a superb example from the Swiss Alps.
ex. Al Ordway
This specimen is composed of chalky, snow white crystals, to 4 cm across, of Inyoite that have been now completely replaced by meyerhoffite. Minor edge luster can be discerned as you catch the minute crystallization in the light. This is a relatively large and a very sharp, aesthetic example of this rare replacement. Collected by Jim Minette in 1968
ex. Al Ordway
Lustrous and translucent, crystals of gray-white celestine, to 2 cm in length totally cover a matrix of colemanite. Unusual association! Collected by Jim Minette in 1990
ex. Al Ordway
This specimen was collected in 1970 by Jim Minette and Dave Wilber, as noted on the Minette label accompanying. The specimen consists of prismatic, lustrous and translucent, white crystals to 1 cm in length nearly covering a massive matrix of the same species (i think). It is in any case a rather large, rich example of this rare borate, and one of the largest I have seen in the collections of these few people who specialzied in California borates
ex. Al Ordway
This is another, large, doubly terminated, translucent, grayish yellow hanksite crystal, measuring 7.3 cm across, and emplaced on smaller hanksite crystals. Self-collected by Al Ordway over many trips to this locality.NOTE: these are coated with mineral oil to preserve them from dehydration in humid environments - best kept in cool, dry environments.
ex. Al Ordway
From the type locality for hanksite, this SHARP specimen features a large, doubly terminated, translucent hanksite crystal, 5.7 cm across that exhibits matte luster. THIS IS VERY GEMMY and transparent! The large crystal sits perfectly on a smaller one which acts as a pedestal. Self-collected by Al Ordway over many trips to this locality. NOTE: these are coated with mineral oil to preserve them from dehydration in humid environments - best kept in cool, dry environments.
ex. Al Ordway
Aesthetically emplaced on a large, frosted, whitish gray barite crystal, 5.5 cm across, are diverging crystals of lustrous, black gaudefroyite to 1.7 cm in length. This species is an uncommon borate rich carbonate with strange chemistry, known only in good crystals from several finds at this manganese mine. Usually they occur as jumbly masses, flat plates, and seldom with any aesthetics in larger specimens. The contrast here, and the perch on barite, is HIGHLY unusual, extremely attractive, and makes this one of the better display specimens of the species I have seen (even including the handling of several major Kalahari collections with thousands of pieces, over the years). While there are a few minor broken crystals, the overall piece is impactful and the major crystals and clusters are intact despite their exposure. Adding color to the specimen are tiny red andradite garnet crystals throughout.
ex. Al Ordway
A sharp crystal of this rare sodium-magnesium sulfate. It does need to be oiled with mineral oil to preserve its hydration state, if in a humid environment. This is a great piece, for quality and symmetry! Initially the color looks dark gray , but when backlit it goes mostly white and transparent. An excellent example of this very rare species, self-collected by Al Ordway over many trips to this locality.
ex. Al Ordway
This is one of the largest, equant. chromite crystals I have seen . It is usually found in tiny crystals or grains. It is an octahedron with some luster and a mottled black color. Pretty amazing size and sharpness make this an important example of the species. Purchased from his old collecting friend Ed Swoboda, in 1998.
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