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K-118 - Dioptase - $ 2850 Tantara, near Reneville, Congo small cabinet, 7.0 x 5.5 x 3.7 cm ex. Charlie Key
A large and stunning specimen of classic old Congo dioptase, in a specimen of rare size and calibre for the locality. Reneville is knock for large blocky crystals as you see here. They have not quite the lustre of a Tsumeb dioptase (or the best Kaokoveld pieces), but have even deeper green color to them. This would represent a specimen of excellent quality, most likely from the late 1960s or early 1970s I am told.
K-186 - Chrysocolla (stalactite) - $ 2000 SOLD Star of the Congo Mine, Lubumbashi, Shaba (Katanga), Congo (former Zaīre) small cabinet, 9.3 x 4.3 x 3.4 cm ex. Charlie Key
Charlie seems to have stashed away the best of these that I have ever seen, and this is one of several, each elegant and unique in their own way, that to me are completely novel in what you can expect for a chrysocolla stalactite growth but beyond that are jsut spectacularly sculptural specimens for ANY species!
K-187 - Chrysocolla (stalactite) - $ 1500 SOLD Star of the Congo Mine, Lubumbashi, Shaba (Katanga), Congo (former Zaīre) cabinet, 11.3 x 5.8 x 3.6 cm ex. Charlie Key
Charlie seems to have stashed away the best of these that I have ever seen, and this is one of several, each elegant and unique in their own way, that to me are completely novel in what you can expect for a chrysocolla stalactite growth but beyond that are jsut spectacularly sculptural specimens for ANY species!
K-188 - Chrysocolla (stalactite) - $ 950 SOLD Star of the Congo Mine, Lubumbashi, Shaba (Katanga), Congo (former Zaīre) cabinet, 11.4 x 6.5 x 4.7 cm ex. Charlie Key
Charlie seems to have stashed away the best of these that I have ever seen, and this is one of several, each elegant and unique in their own way, that to me are completely novel in what you can expect for a chrysocolla stalactite growth but beyond that are jsut spectacularly sculptural specimens for ANY species!
K-189 - Chrysocolla (stalactite) - $ 1750 SOLD Star of the Congo Mine, Lubumbashi, Shaba (Katanga), Congo (former Zaīre) small cabinet, 6.7 x 5.0 x 3.5 cm ex. Charlie Key
Charlie seems to have stashed away the best of these that I have ever seen, and this is one of several, each elegant and unique in their own way, that to me are completely novel in what you can expect for a chrysocolla stalactite growth but beyond that are jsut spectacularly sculptural specimens for ANY species!
K294 - Purple Fluorite on Quartz - $ 2950 Nasik, Maharashtra, India cabinet, 11.9 x 6.5 x 2.7 cm ex. Charlie Key
I was shocked to see purple fluorite from India. Never seen it, in 20 years-plus of looking at Indian specimens. Recently over the last 4 years, we have seen for the first time (at least so I believed and everybody else I know), rounded botryoidal fluorite from India : red and yellow hemispheres from Mahodari in Nasik. Somehow, Charlie had bought and stahed a whole previous pocket of fluorites, and a novel color for India no less, and nobody knew. I BUY A LOT of Indian minerals and believe me, I would have bought ANY purple fluorite from India if i had seen ONE SINGLE specimen out of the tens of thousands of pieces I have been offered over the years. It simply wasn't to be had. I asked Charlie how the hell...and he just chuckled and said he "got good things from time to time an dput them away." Charlie had apparently bought this small pocket in the late 1980s , and it was all he had seen, as well. This is the largest specimen of the small group we found in his collection - nestled in with a large and extensive Indian Collection Suite which we will post later in the year. This piece is pristine , and it positively glows when backlit with the light shining through both the translucent fluorite and the thin quartz late on which it rests. This hemisphere measures 5 cm across. NOT a pale lavender, but a nice rich shade of purple! Rare and unusual, I would say...
K295 - Millerite - $ 900 SOLD Agnew Mine, Agnew, Western Australia small cabinet, 5.7 x 4.1 x 3.0 cm ex. Charlie Key
A relatively aesthetic specimen of lamellar growth millerite which here is an attractive spray but is normally seen just forming in layers at this classic and now defunct nickel mine. The millerite completely filled cracks in the rock to form thick layers of parallel-grown acicular crystals . Rarely, as here, we see terminated crystals in a rolling crust atop, though the side view is simply more pretty! It is very bright and golden-colored, and totally unique for millerite occurences. I have not seen such a good piece out there in years.
K296 - Gem Ruby with Sapphire core - $ 1750 SOLD Gamesh Himal, Nepal thumbnail, 2.3 x 1.1 x 1.0 cm ex. Charlie Key
In 1984 Charlie , along with John Barlow , sponsored a collecting trip to Nepal for these. I have his note on the back of an old business card that states, in his opinion, this was the best crystal found. Note the winding core in the middle which is a sapphire core, something rarely seen and in need of some study to figure out why this is going on! There is probably some neat gem rough to be cut from this, with the ruby rind around a purple sapphire core. The specimen is completely WEIRD, in that it tapers from a narrow base to a wider termination which shows multiple trigonal faces. The termination has some damage on the back edge, but not in front. Note there IS one repair about the middle, so its not perfect by any means; but it IS a beautiful and very intense gem crystal that leaps out from a showcase, and the flaws are noted in that context. It is repaired at the midpoint but, you do not really mind so much in person, when the gemminess and intense color impact is taken into account (and otherwise this would be a 10k thumbnail anyhow). The color is not intense, it is almost metallic in "style" and really jumps out.
K298A - Manganosite with Zincite, Jacobsite - $ 1500 SOLD Franklin Mine, Franklin, New Jersey, USA miniature, 3.7 x 2.9 x 2.4 cm ex. Charlie Key
A relatively large, sharp, and (i am told by those who know more than I ) pretty good crystal of this rarity! Cahrlie , a New Jersey native and specialist, was very impressed by these crystals and kept them around for at least the last 30 years, after getting them in an old collection. This one is particularly 3-dimensional and impressive. Some might say impressively ugly, but they are prettier than most such crystals due to the accenting zincite color. The manganosite under a thin jacobsite coating is unaltered/unoxidized and green.
K298B - Manganosite with Zincite, Jacobsite - $ 250 SOLD Franklin Mine, Franklin, New Jersey, USA thumbnail, 3.0 x 2.0 x 1.5 cm ex. Charlie Key
A relatively large, sharp, and (i am told by those who know more than I ) pretty good crystal of this rarity! Cahrlie , a New Jersey native and specialist, was very impressed by these crystals and kept them around for at least the last 30 years, after getting them in an old collection. This one is cleaved in back but shows nice upper faces and is a significant, fine representative of the species from this locality. Some might say impressively ugly, but they are prettier than most such crystals due to the accenting zincite color.
K299 - Scapolite - $ 450 Morogoro, Tanzania miniature, 4.0 x 1.2 x 1.0 cm ex. Charlie Key
A superb, slender, gem crystal of scapolite from this locality which has produced the best golden scapolite over the years. Pristine and complete all around
K300 - Proustite on Quartz - $ 900 SOLD Schlema, Saxony, Germany miniature, 3.3 x 2.2 x 1.7 cm ex. Charlie Key
A SHARP crystal of wine-red proustite just perched right up atop a pedestal of quartz! NICE thumbnail or small mini! The sharply steepled termination is pristine and the crystal is only contacted on the back and the right side, away from the viewing display.
K302 - Sillimanite (huge gem xl) - $ 2000 Orissa, India thumbnail, 2.7 x 2.1 x 0.9 cm ex. Charlie Key
Charlie was very impressed with this rare gem crystal of sillimanite, which he told me was the best he had seen, for combination of size and form. I cannot argue, as I have never seen but rounded pebbles of this material, from Mogok and not from India. The crystal is a little bit like a floppy wizards hat in form, but it is translucent and 3-dimensional, and actually displays quite well. I am inclined to fully trust Charlie about its significance in the absence of anything to compare it to out there.
K303 - Cuprosklodowskite - $ 950 SOLD Musinoi Mine, Shaba Province, Zaire miniature, 3.7 x 2.4 x 2.3 cm ex. Charlie Key
WOW. This small but pristine, 3-D spray is simply the best quality you could imagine, and so metallic in lustre it almost glows! Xls to 1 cm protected in a malachite vug. Ex. Gilbert Gauthier
K304 - Cuprian Powellite - $ 750 SOLD Jardinera No. 1 Mine, Inca de Oro, Chaņaral Province, Atacama Region, Chile small cabinet, 7.5 x 7.3 x 4.5 cm ex. Charlie Key
This is a very rare large specimen of a new varietal of powellite that was identified during analysis of the szenicsite associations from this remote mine, only found in the 1990s by Terry Szenics. I bought much at the time, and saw no plates of this size for sale. It has some peripheral contacts, but the main display area is pristine and the display face is very large and colorful overall. To my knowledge, no more of this material has been found since the 1990s.
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