A rare exchange out of the Peabody Museum at Yale (with a rather early number from the 1800s), this is a very aesthetic cluster of sharp, elongated, gem calcites which have a subtle coloring of red caused by hematite dusting. The overall effect is highly unusual! This is an old classic, found sometime in the mid to late 1800s. The aesthetics of the piece, though, are just very different than those of other such specimens because of the coloration. It is dramatic and freestanding, and nearly pristine all around. Few Yale specimens ever were traded out. This one was exchanged, I suspect, because it was of large size and had much damage around the edges. However, after I bought it from collector George Elling, who got it in a collection himself, I trimmed it to consolidate and clean up the periphery. Note the original label is included - few such were ever given out with deaccessions at Yale. Joe Budd photos

A gorgeous matrix piece with a 2.5 cm tall brookite standing straight up, yet protected by the matrix! Richard Kosnar had a well known collection specializing in, among other suites, alpine cleft minerals of the Swiss/French Alps, Pakistan, and the Dodo deposit in Russia. He had a standing order in the 1980s-1990s to buy the best he could get of the Russian alpine-type material from the dealership of Van Scriver, who were bringing so much of it to market through their deep Russian contacts. This piece was recovered by a skilled Russian collector in July 1996, after going back into an old pocket where miners had previously recovered large, gemmy quartz crystals for which this locale is famous (and for which the miners sought to get their more obvious "payday"). I am told that this brookite specimen is one of only two of this aesthetics and magnitude I have seen from the locality, the other being a piece in the Ed David collection of similar magnitude but slightly lesser aesthetics (and it came from the same pocket, via the same dealers Star and Brad van Scriver). The significance of this piece, its aesthetics, its pristine condition, and the sheer beauty of the brookite itself , puts this near the top of the species list for my taste. New material from Pakistan has come to market in the early 2000's , and these perhaps are the only competition for the best of the Dodo material (though, generally, they aren't on such nice matrix nor so gemmy in this size range). Held unseen for nearly 20 years, I obtained this piece from his family after Richard Kosnar passed away. Joe Budd photos. Also pictured in the MR Vol. 30, No. 6 (Nov-Dec 1999) on page 433, Figure 15.

In the mid 1990s, a virtual flood of these sharp, twinned calcites came out of this former Russian Republic and to market, many at very affordable prices. This one, however, stands above all of those and is one of the few best I know of. It is bigger, gemmier, cleaner, and just plain brighter and sparklier than the normal quality you might expect. The photos are accurate, not an exaggeration at all, and it really is this gemmy and sharp in person. I obtained this specimen in exchange from the noted Eric Asselborn collection (Dijon, France) in the early 2000's and kept it since then in my own calcite collection, which I started in 1985 and added to until only very recently. I know there is a swarm of cheaper, "nice" calcite twins out there from this locale. But again, this is so far beyond them, its not even the same planet in my eyes. I was proud to own this for the last 7 or 8 years and I still consider it one of the few best of this style that I know of, amongst the major collections (including several specializing in Russian material). Joe Budd photos

Calcite from Verkhniy has come out for a decade or more now, in a bewildering variety of shapes and forms. This piece, though, always stood out to my eye as unusual. It is a complex intergrown twin with crystals seemingly forming an olde English-style heart twin at top and bottom, yet both attached to the same central crystal ! The piece is a complete floater, and is as pristine as you can rationally wish for.The end tips show a subtle, finely articulated complex network of veins running to a common termination at each end. From the well-known Eric Asselborn collection, sold to me for my own personal calcite collection in 2006 and kept since then . Joe Budd photos

Gallatin is known for honey-colored and translucent calcites , and also as a tough and remote place to collect. Most pieces are big - the locale usually produces larger calcite crystals of double this size and above. This has to be the most aesthetic smaller example I have seen, for quality, translucency, and sharpness of form! It was long in the calcite collection of Dallas collector (and organizer of much of our auctions) Karl Warning.  Complete all around, and comes with a custom base. Joe Budd Photos

This is one of only two such examples of gem, twinned , jewel-like calcite on stibnite that attained this level of perfection, from a small find of late 1999/early 2000 (in fact, the piece is shown in the What's New from Tucson column of May 2000, used to illustrate the find at the time it came to market). The crystal is absolutely pristine and features the richest color saturation and lustre for which this pocket was known. The stibnite is ALSO pristine and complete, all around! The calcite, nearly 2 inches, is perched upon it like a boat on a mountain. The pocket has left an impression , and was never repeated in this quality, though a trickle of further specimens came out. The later specimens were scalenohedral. The twinned habit, such as you see here, was unique to just a few pieces. There was so much mystery and competition surrounding these spectacular combo pieces that THREE TIMES , I was given erroneous information by Chinese and American dealers who were trying to keep it a secret until more mining could be done. Only years later did we learn the true locale. I remember falling in love with this piece (at the time, I was a devoted calcite collector myself, and had been so for 20 years since childhood) , but it was already sold to collector Steve Smale. I pried it out of him in an exchange within a year, and then kept it myself for half a dozen years until Wally repeated the armtwisting trick with me on another specimen i "had to have," as I switched to keeping only larger Chinese cabinet sized pieces for myself. Wally works here at our office helping me with sorting and research, a few days a week; and after two years of him fondling it in my collection, I had given in to the temptation of trading it out. This was, and remains, a favorite of my older collection, however. Now available from the Wally Mann collection, it is up for sale briefly as he wants to use the funds towards another piece. If it doesn't go, he'll keep it. Joe Budd Photos

This stunning specimen looks bright and new, but is definitely from the classic mid to late-1800's finds of these sharp calcite twins, that reigned as the kings of twinned calcite for a century after. Heart twins from Egremont are an "essential classic" in that they are beautiful and important at the same time, and I think add depth to any collection that has more common styles of calcite. Aside from one (barely passing) similar pocket from China about 5 years ago, there still is nothing else like these around from other locales. Most of these twins were collected in the 1860s to the 1880s, when famous British dealer John Graves handled a majority (CLICK HERE to see his old advertisement from 1895 - http://www.irocks.com/new09/talling.jpg). To survive to today in such condition usually means it was in a museum drawer for 100 years. Also, such clarity, such bright lustre, is extremely rare in combination. The total colorlessness of the piece makes it stand out even in a case of fancier gem crystals, literally like a "jewel." This large twin is REALLY CLEAN with no significant damage and a pure white clarity not marred by internal spots of hematite stain or matrix inclusions. In person it is bright and shiny, no hint of old dinginess. Furthermore, a twin this fat is unusual - most are a bit narrower. From the noted, old classics collection of Phil Scalisi. Joe Budd photos

An intense, very deeply colored fluorite with color that is literally the saturation of grape jelly. This is from a small pocket that came out only a few years ago, and was sold even in Mexico for a super premium. Most of it, if not all, was controlled by the New family (a dealership) and Jason New kept the best in his collection (which I purchased in 2010). This specimen, with crystals exceeding an inch, shows beautifully from several angles. Most of these few specimens were not recovered in pristine condition. Although it has some contacting attachment points in back, and one noticeable ding on a side crystal to the left of the main frontal crystal, this is in good shape otherwise and certainly displays dramatically. A choice Mexican fluorite specimen. Joe Budd photos

From a private collection, this piece was purchased in the mid 1980s when the find came out, and never trimmed down from the big chunk I found it in when purchased�which was lucky, indeed, as the larger rock protected this pocket in a crevasse. This is one of the larger, and certainly one of the showier, hot pink calcites that I have seen come back on the market. It has intense color saturation, top lustre, and a moderate gemminess. The overall richness and dimensionality of the piece, make it very dramatic on a shelf.. Joe Budd photos

I purchased this piece in 1992 from an intinerant mineral dealer from Guanajuato, a really nice guy who split his time between running minerals up to the States, and US citizens down to his ranch in Gjto to meditate and explore nature. He sold me part of his own personal collection of Gjto minerals at the time, to help fund the development of the "meditation retreat" they were building. Since I collected calcite , I jumped all over this specimen and owned it for nearly 10 years before somebody pointed out that it my hopeful wishes occluded my judgement in specimen identification: it is quartz, not calcite! The quartz replaced the original calcite, somehow creating this sandwich effect of colored layers. To this day, I have not seen another such piece except for those in that original flat of material he showed me, which I was told came from a single pocket in the late 1980s. (I did buy the rest, for resale, and sold them cheaply as calcites at the time!) Joe Budd photos