This is a razor-sharp crystal with a termination so sharp you can literally cut yourself on it. The quartz hosts an internal phantom generation of quartz, that is richly included by powder blue ajoite. Now, often the inclusions are dispersed in the quartz , but seldom do you see a phantom within, concentrating the color as this one does. The crystal is complete all around, and shows extraordinary clarity looking through to the phantom zone within. I have seen literally hundreds of these, and in this size range, few have stood out to me as starkly as this piece, which I saw at the Munich show with a direct source. Moreover, it is complete and sharp, and shows off the inclusions without need of polishing. It really is one of the sharpest and finest in its size class. After cleaning, we found that it is technically a floater - rough at the bottom, but microcrystallized and complete.

Papagoite seldom occurs so intensely, so brightly, and so well dispersed in the quartz from this classic locale. Recent finds have really redefined standards, yielding huge crystals with excellent coloration. However, most are large crystals, generally singles or clusters. ry finding a killer miniature against the crowd of larger pieces! There just are many largre pieces, now, but few this size range for the miniature collector. This is one of the finest smaller quartz crystals I have seen for clarity, sharpness, and completeness (it is a doubly-terminated floater). It is invested with Papagoite, both rich and of the highest color saturation for this material. Overall, just an exquisite specimen that is so much brighter and more colorful than most. .Joe Budd Photos