Charlie Key Collection "Teaser" Specimens

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34 specimens selected...

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CKTSR-34 - TINZENITE on CALCITE - SOLD
Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

miniature, 4.5 x 3.5 x 3 cm
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ex.  Charlie Key

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TINZENITE on CALCITE from Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-34a.jpg]
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TINZENITE on CALCITE from Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-34b.jpg]

Charlie says this is by 2 orders of magnitude the best of species, and I believe him (as do others I have run this by). This piece, to me, is one of the most shocking surprises of the collection in that i had never even heard of the species coming from SA, and yet here is world's best...and beautiful full miniature to boot?! These crystals have the color of the best serandite, and lustre like glass. They reach 1.5 cm in size. Overall, its an extraordinarily beautiful specimen that is also of mineralogical significance.


CKTSR-35 - ETTRINGITE with HEMATITE and GAUDEFROYITE on CALCITE - SOLD
N'Chwaning II Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

cabinet, 10 x 8 x 4 cm
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ex.  Charlie Key

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ETTRINGITE with HEMATITE and GAUDEFROYITE on CALCITE from N'Chwaning II Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-35a.jpg]
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ETTRINGITE with HEMATITE and GAUDEFROYITE on CALCITE from N'Chwaning II Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-35b.jpg]
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ETTRINGITE with HEMATITE and GAUDEFROYITE on CALCITE from N'Chwaning II Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-35c.jpg]

Incredible , gorgeous combination specimen featuring two large ettringite crystals of lemon yello whue, perched on sparkling and contrasting CRYSTALLIZED white calcite AND Gaudefroyite, further accented by a hematite crystal atop. The hematite is striking, and is 2.25 cm long and doubly terminated, pseudo-scalenohedral in form. The ettringite crystals are to 4.5 cm in length and shimmer with electric sheen on the surface, and have deep color that does not convey well in the photos. The overall contrast is striking. This is a very rare, large example of the species in super aesthetic form. It was found in the mid to late 1980s. Comes with custom lucite display base.


CKTSR-36 - COLUMNAR HEMATITE on ANDRADITE - SOLD
Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

cabinet, 10.5 x 7.5 x 5.5 cm
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ex.  Charlie Key

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COLUMNAR HEMATITE on ANDRADITE from Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-36a.jpg]

I have simply NEVER seen such hematite crystals from anywhere! Charlie says he obtained the two best of a small pocket, found some time ago. This one features a spray of upright columnar crystals to 6 cm leaping off from andradite garnet matrix! No damage, and complete all around - it is a magnificent specimen period and a truly unprecedented hematite about which I cannot rave enough. I know that Charlie considered it one of the top pieces in the collection. Comes with custom lucite display base.


CKTSR-16 - HEMATITE (twinned) with CALCITE - SOLD
Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

miniature, 4.5 x 3 x 3 cm
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ex.  Charlie Key

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HEMATITE (twinned) with CALCITE from Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-16a.jpg]
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HEMATITE (twinned) with CALCITE from Wessels Mine, Kalahari Manganese Fields, Northern Cape Province, South Africa [db_pics/pics/cktsr-16b.jpg]

In the entire collection, this is perhaps my favorite miniature specimen, in terms of beauty and competition-level worthiness. It features a twinned, mirror-bright, 3 x 3 x 2.75 cm crystal on matrix, with accents of calcite. It displays magnificently vertically as shown or horizontally as well. Totally pristine and complete all around save for a small natural contact on one edge of the lower-rear, this is as close to a "jewel" as you can ever ask for a "black" mineral species! It HAS TO BE among the finest imagineable hematite miniatures, but more than that its a damned good miniature, period.



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