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10 x 8 x 7 cm. A robust 7 x 6 x 4.5-cm crystal of beryl, perched without repairs on a very well trimmed matrix, makes this a superb, aesthetic example from the late 2007 finds here. These are some of the best matrix beryls we have seen since the 1990s, and they have a distinct barrel shape and multihued color to them. This single crystals is blue, pink, and clear all at the same time, in different zones. It is glassy, and has a good termination. Bill Larson helped the miners clean and prepare the pieces from this pocket; and this specimen, and one larger example as well, were his choices from that pocket to keep. This was actually one of the last 2 specimens added to the Pala San Diego collection, just a few months before its sale to me. Ex. William Larson Collection.
14 x 10 x 5 cm. This large cabinet piece has a central, robust 8 x 6 cm crystal of beryl, perched without repairs on a very well trimmed matrix. It is one of the best, most aesthetic examples from the late 2007 finds here. These are some of the most interesting matrix beryls we have seen since the 1990s, and they have a distinct barrel shape and multihued color to them. This single crystals is blue, pink, and clear all at the same time, in different zones. It is glassy, and has a good termination. Bill Larson helped the miners clean and prepare the pieces from this pocket, and this specimen, and one other slightly smaller example as well, were his choices from that pocket to keep. This was actually one of the last specimens added to the Pala San Diego collection, just before its sale to me. Ex. William Larson Collection.
15.1 x 11.0 x 7.5 cm. This specimen features a large 3 x 2 inch morganite hanging off the side of a smoky quartz. Association pieces, and good morganite of any kind for that matter, are uncommon in San Diego except for the famous White Queen Mine (and even there, not that common). The morganite is complete on the front, contacted and partially recrystallized on the back. Morganite from San Diego County is usually rather etched, as well, but not this one. A remarkable display specimen found by Roland Reed and passed on to Chuck in the 1990s. Ex. Chuck Houser Collection.
9.2 x 5.8 x 5.2 cm. A rare locality aquamarine, from this small mine which has produced few gem crystals historically and so they are prized by San Diego County collectors all the more. Ex. Chuck Houser Collection.
15.2 x 9.1 x 7.0 cm. On May 15, 1982, a famous specimen called the "Pala Princess" was unearthed by Roland Reed, mine owner. It was one repaired large plate consisting of a half a dozen pieces, 3 of them of some major consequence for the San Diego County and for US beryls in general. The piece was judged by John Sinkankas at the time to be the finest beryl specimen found in North America to date. This is the third of the larger plates that made up that piece, as shown in Sinkankas' updated book, Gems of North America, published shortly thereafter. Note he erroneously attributed the find to 1992, not 1982. In 2003, the plate was purchased from a private collector by Irv Brown and Stuart Wilensky; and disassembled into its parts, which were then trimmed and prepped individually to yield 3 major, unrepaired, (and much more) aesthetic morganite specimens. This is the third of those specimens, and it has never been for sale because Irv traded it directly to Chuck within the week. This piece would have comprised about 20% of the original surface area of the specimen, and features one of the larger crystals. You can see the unique nature of the piece, in its multiple coloration of both blue aquamarine and pink morganite, from the photo. In person, it is more obvious. This is a major County specimen, with incredibly neat provenance and history, the likes of which hasn't been mined since. Ex. Chuck Houser Collection.
15.0 x 9.0 x 7.4 cm. A beautiful and large specimen of incredibly deep green Emerald crystals on Quartz and Schist matrix. The color is about as rich and intense as I have seen from this area in northeast Brazil. The crystals (the largest of which measures 7.1 cm), have superb luster and are even translucent to gemmy in sections. They main crystal, which is rather stout and thick flares out of the top of the specimen, but it must be noted that the piece is contacted at the termination.
6.1 x 1.4 x 1.3 cm. A beautiful, golden-yellow heliodor crystal from 1970s or 1980s finds at the Sapucaia Mine of Brazil. This gemmy and lustrous crystal has true yellow color in the slightly tapered body. The termination is an unusual pinacoid with rounded edges. Brazilian heliodors of this quality from this locality are very seldom available and are very highly desirable. Weighs 18 grams. Ex. Robert Whitmore Collection.
1.9 x 1.5 x 1.2 cm. A very rare and oddball locality piece, said to be from the early 1900s. These two specimens were exchanged from the Natural History Museum in Sofia by dealer Keith Williams, when he was over there buying minerals in the early 1990s as this region was opening up to the specimen trade. I have not seen others. Still "dirty" with pocket material adhering, but it provided a nice archaic look, and so I did not clean it.
4.0 x 3.4 x 2.0 cm. Stunning, absolutely gemmy, intense green emeralds in matrix from Panjsher Valley. This is an amazing matrix miniature of unusual quality not just for the matrix, but for the sheer quality of the crystals themselves which is unusual in Panjsher specimens.
5.0 x 3.8 x 2.5 cm. A very gemmy 15 x 8 x 8 mm emerald perched nicely in matrix. You can see even in the photos how gemmy and clean the crystal is. In person, it is even brighter, more gemmy, and more beautiful.
10.4 x 4.9 x 4.5 cm. A stunning gem crystal of peach morganite...often the Afghani morganites are pink, but this is a rich, and rarer, peach-colored hue that is especially vibrant and treasured. The crystal has exceptional clarity, so you find yourself looking right through it to the matrix adhering to the back of the crystal a bit, which is like a garden of cleavelandite fronds. The intensity of color is as shown, very high. Lustre is glassy.
7.8 x 6.8 x 3.8 cm. Two absolutely water-clear, intergrown, tabular aquamarine crystals are very aesthetically set on the matrix plate of pearlescent, gray muscovite from recent Chinese finds at Mt. Xuebaoding. The two crystals are 4.5 cm across and have fine light blue color and complex terminations.
5.4 x 0.6 x 0.6 cm. A gem, water-clear, light blue, pencil aquamarine crystal with an unusual tapered and frosted, pinacoidal termination. This pristine crystal is from recent finds in the Shigar Valley of Pakistan.
4.1 x 3.4 x 2.9 cm. A vug of well crystallized, gray calcite hosts this incredibly gem-clear, transparent, rich green emerald, measuring 1.75 cm in height. In recent years, the Coscuez Mine has produced many fine emerald specimens, like this one. However, to get such an aesthetic piece, without damage (and not a fake) is nearly impossible. This was an older specimen, obtained from a friend's collection. Ex. Alain Martaud Collection.
5.2 x 4.7 x 3.1 cm. A very attractive combination piece for emeralds, with beautiful, lustrous, bright crystals to about 1 cm sitting on a cluster of rhombohedral calcites.
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share specimen![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine), Beryl (Var: Morganite) from Oceanview Mine (MS 6452; MS 6848; Ocean View), Chief Mountain, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-259956a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-259956a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine), Beryl (Var: Morganite) from Oceanview Mine (MS 6452; MS 6848; Ocean View), Chief Mountain, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-259957a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-259957a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Morganite), Quartz from Elizabeth R. Mine, Chief Mountain, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-259960a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-259960a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine) from Blue Lady Mine (Blue Tourmaline claim; San Diego group; Blue Bell deposit; Blue Bell Mine), Chihuahua Valley, Warner Springs District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-259999a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-259999a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine) from Blue Lady Mine (Blue Tourmaline claim; San Diego group; Blue Bell deposit; Blue Bell Mine), Chihuahua Valley, Warner Springs District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-259999b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-259999b.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Morganite), Albite from Elizabeth R. Mine, Chief Mountain, Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260006a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260006a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Emerald) from Carnaiba Mine, Pindobaçu, Campo Formoso District, Bahia, Northeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260058a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260058a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Heliodor) from Sapucaia Mine, Sapucaia do Norte, Galiléia, Doce valley, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260077a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260077a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine) from Banite, Rhodope Mts, Smolyan Oblast, Bulgaria [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260432a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260432a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Emerald) from Panjsher (Panjshir) Valley, Hessa-e-Say District, Panjshir (Panjsheer) Province, Afghanistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260434a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260434a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Emerald) from Muzo Mine, Muzo, Vasquez-Yacopí Mining District, Boyacá Department, Colombia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260468a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260468a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Emerald) from Muzo Mine, Muzo, Vasquez-Yacopí Mining District, Boyacá Department, Colombia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260468b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260468b.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Morganite), Albite (Var: Cleavelandite) from Darra-i-Pech (Pech; Peech; Darra-e-Pech) Pegmatite Field, Nangarhar (Ningarhar) Province, Afghanistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-260471a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-260471a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine), Muscovite from Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China [db_pics/mdpics/MD-261748a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-261748a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine), Muscovite from Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China [db_pics/mdpics/MD-261748b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-261748b.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Aquamarine) from Shigar Valley, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-261751a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-261751a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Emerald), Calcite from Coscuez Mine (Cosquez Mine), Muzo, Vasquez-Yacopí Mining District, Boyacá Department, Colombia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-262091a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-262091a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Emerald), Calcite from Coscuez Mine (Cosquez Mine), Muzo, Vasquez-Yacopí Mining District, Boyacá Department, Colombia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-262091b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-262091b.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Emerald), Calcite from La Pita Mine, La Pita, Maripi, Vasquez-Yacopí Mining District, Boyacá Department, Colombia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-262105a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-262105a.jpg)