|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
K255 - Calcite (twinned) - AUS$ 984 SOLD NChwaning Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 3.8 x 3.3 x 2.2 cm
Wow! this is a stunning, gemmy miniature featuring two prisitne, perfectly upright gem calcite crystals twinned with respect to one another. The crystals measure 2.2 and 2.5 cm across at their longest dimensions and are just like little jewels!
K256 - Calcite on Brucite - AUS$ 1640 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 6.4 x 3.3 x 3.2 cm
WOW! This is one of my favorite pieces in the whole update, for the sheer crazy geometry of it and the unique combination. First of all, the blue brucite is good on its own merit. Turn the piece upside down and you have a good brucite on matrix...and lustrous blue is very rare, in any case, for the species. I think its worth this price JUST FOR the brucite, in other words. The color contrasts to the calcite, obviously. However, the stark physical contrast of the gemmy, geometric, sharp calcite rhomb atop is just even more striking, and as a Wessels calcite specimen, it is an unusual and dramatic piece. The calcite rhomb is nearly complete up on its pedestal, with just a small contacted lower area in back and a few trivial dings. It is gemmy, and complete, otherwise all around including the sides.
K291 - Calcite on Brucite - AUS$ 492 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 3.5 x 2.9 x 1.9 cm
Another piece from obviously the same pocket as the above, this is to me one of the most unprecedented specimens in the collection for the aesthetics and the oddity of the combo. The calcite is almost an inch across, sharp, and very translucent. It has a contact on the left edge of the rhomb, that is detracting a bit, but the price is adjusted accordingly. The brucite is waxy-lustrous, and superb on its own merits. Again, I think the contrast between the sharp rhomb and the curvy brucite really adds visual impact and get this piece noticed!
K257 - Poldervaartite with Calcite - AUS$ 656 NChwaning Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 6.1 x 4.1 x 2.5 cm
A really unusual specimen with both the red crystal and the beige spherical aggregate styles both on the same specimen in close contact, all accented by a few sparkly calcite crystals. Really wild combination! The lump you see in the center of the polder ball is a calcite crystal , and then next to it a slight gap int eh crystal coverage of the sphere. In person, that little dimple isn't as obvious because you tilt the specimen back for display instead of straight up as shown. Overall, though, this is a VERY cute combination piece and the juxtaposition of crystal forms of the same mineral on one piece is interesting.
K258 - Manganocalcite on Kutnahorite - AUS$ 820 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 7.1 x 7.1 x 3.4 cm
A beautiful specimen with DEEP PINK manganoan calcite in 3-dimensional rounded globules and odd extended tubes, perched atop a curving mass of paler-pink, less lustrous and so contrasting, kutnahorite. This is a palm-sized piece with rich color and dimensionality to it that makes a stunning visual impac tin a case.
K259 - Thomsonite (rare!) - AUS$ 1312 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 4.4 x 3.2 x 3.1 cm
Crystallized Thomsonite is exceedingly rare from the Manganese Fields, and this is one of only a handful of specimens i have seen in decades of looking. The piece features a 1-inch ball perched smack atop a natural pedestal. THis is a significant and readily displayable specimen of this rare species. And, as well, crystallized thomsonite is rare from ANY locale to begin with.
K261 - Mangan-Vesuvianite - AUS$ 1312 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 4.2 x 3.9 x 3.3 cm
NOT a Gaudefroyite ! this one fooled us at first, too! It is a SUPERB mangan-vesuvianite with deep wine-red color when backlit, so you can be sure of the ID. This specimen features xls of the highest quality and the best lustre, almost glassy in brightness - rare for the species. There is some damage to smaller crystals, but most major crystals are complete, and the display is phenomenal. The matrix is sparkling, minutely crystallized andradite garnet. The large single crystal atop is doubly-terminated and almost 2 cm long tip to tip.
K220 - Ettringite (floater!) - AUS$ 3279 SOLD NChwaning II Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 3.4 x 2.4 x 1.1 cm
This crystal is a doubly-terminated floater, complete all around, and obviously LEMON yellow, the top color. It is sharply hexagonal and just plain striking. From finds in the early 1980s. I cnanot emphasize how impressive this piece is. AND HOW PRISTINE...
K271 - Poldervaartite - AUS$ 3553 SOLD NChwaning Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 4.1 x 4.0 x 2.4 cm
A gorgeous, sparkling, lustrous, translucent polder specimen with TOP QUALITY and lustre. This is a superb miniature with flash and pizzazz; and the aesthetics are nice because of the contrast between the two crystal habits juxtaposed on the same specimen, with the single gem crystal form accenting each of the spherical aggregates. This piece is pristine, and is one of the best miniatures I have seen (and I saw a lot of them at the time they came out around 2000). Charlie was first on the scene and got many of the best, including this one.
K262 - Manganocalcite - AUS$ 1968 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa cabinet, 16.3 x 12.3 x 5.1 cm
A Beautiful, crescent-shaped specimen of RICH PINK manganoan calcite, complete all around the sides and contacted only on the bottom (or back, as shown here stood vertically). This is a stunning, colorful piece with no damage on all that surface volume.
K263 - Sphalerite (RARE!) with Rhodochrosite - AUS$ 219 SOLD NChwaning Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 6.6 x 5.2 x 3.1 cm
Charlie told me to ask $500 as a sphalerite but i don't have the heart. That little arrow points to a 1mm pleiophane sphalerite. It IS very rare for the fields, and her eyou ahve one validated by the master! But, I priced it as a rhodo anyhow.
K264 - Rhodochrosite - AUS$ 437 SOLD NChwaning Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 4.3 x 2.7 x 2.5 cm
A rare rhodo ball from the famous find of the late 1980s that produced just a few of these! This one is 2 cm across, nicely centered on stark contrasting manganite ore matrix. It is slightly dimpled by a natural contact on the bottom, but still complete. And very 3-dimensional! Note the tiny sharp manganite CRYSTALS on the ball itself!
K265 - Poldervaartite (from original find) - AUS$ 3279 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa miniature, 3.9 x 2.4 x 2.3 cm
This mineral was discovered in the 1980s but only recognized and named by 1993. Specimens were always extremely rare and hard to obtain. This one, Charlie was quite proud of and regarded as an important piece, worth perhaps 5k back in the day before a few years ago when Poldervaartite fortune was struck at the nearby NChwaning Mine. Literally, these were like beige gold to the collectors of Kalahari rarities! Now, OK, its a common enough species because of the new finds - BUT they are of totally different habit and these old ones are still both recognizable and desirable. This is a rare locality specimen, and probably (according to Charlie) a co-type with the material used to describe the species.
K267 - Kutnahorite - AUS$ 2186 SOLD Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa small cabinet, 8.6 x 7.1 x 4.3 cm
A stunning 3-dimensional treelike cluster of bright pink kutnahorite crystals, probably on a manganocalcite core. This is a VERY DRAMATIC specimen, and is much more impressive in person! The cluster is 6 cm across tip to tip, and VERY 3-dimensional!
K269 - Rhodochrosite - AUS$ 8198 SOLD Black Rock Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, South Africa cabinet, 12.0 x 7.3 x 2.7 cm
A very rich specimen from the old Black Rock Mine, predating famous finds later at NChwaning. These dark cherry-red balls are a very different habit from later finds, and specimens hard to come by - especially in this size and quality!
All Content and Design ©1996-2010 The ArkenstoneBy-species Galleries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
