MIX17B-19
Fluorite on Dolomite with Quartz
Shangbao Mine, near Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China
Small Cabinet, 8.5 x 7.2 x 3.3 cm
Ex. Helmut Bruckner
SOLD

An exceptional fluorite by any standard...This is an old classic style from Shangbao, from the 1990s, and seldom seen for sale in either the USA or in China (trust me, I buy all I can of these, and I have looked for years!) This specimen features superbly formed, separated crystals esthetically perched on a matrix of sparkling drusy quartz and tan-colored dolomite rhombohedra. The crystals are beautifully separated for impact, glassy and gemmy, with a unique color of light purple to lilac colored and subtle phantom effects inside. They reach to 2.3 cm on an edge. The smaller fluorite crystals exhibit color zoning and sharper phantoms near their terminations. Ex. W. Leithauser collection and Helmut Bruckner Collection (Helmut was one of the major dealers of Europe in the 1990s and has superb taste. He sold me the collection he helped build for his brother-in-law, a decade ago, and this was included. I only got it back recently). If I had to buy this in China, it would come at a dear premium, these days, as many in-country collectors are looking to buy and hold minerals of the 1990s that they missed.

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