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10.5 x 8.8 x 7.7 cm. Large, lustrous and translucent, well-formed, light amber colemanite crystals up to 8.8 cm across from an extinct California locality, the Thompson Mine in Death Valley. Some of the faces have showy, very pronounced stepped growth. Ex. Mullane Collection.
12.6 x 7.4 x 4.9 cm. A sculptural cabinet colemanite specimen from the Corkscrew Mine of Death Valley and the Jaime Bird Collection. This floater, two-sided piece is comprised of intergrown, glassy/sparkly, tan to colorless colemanite crystal puffballs. The two diverging clusters at the top look like reindeer antlers. Excellent and classic older material. Very nearly pristine.
5.4 x 5.0 x 3.7 cm. Gemmy, twinned, honey-brown colemanite crystals, with flashes of interior fire, richly and aesthetically cover the mounded matrix on this showy and excellent specimen from the small, one-time 2005 find in Turkey. Very interestingly, a second generation of totally colorless colemanite is found on the edges of the crystals. Ex. Tarnowski Collection.
5.5 x 5.1 x 4.4 cm. Sharp crystals to 2 cm make this the most dramatic example for the find from late 2005, because this is the largest crystal I know of to date. The twinning is sharp and well-developed, much more easily visible because of the size of the crystal. Three other large crystals, to over 1 cm, flank the big one's rear. I like the look of it as a castle or mountain with smaller peaks winding elegantly down the center-right of the piece. From the collector’s point of view, they are unusually pretty as previous colemanites have generally been white to chalky in color, with few exceptions as a rule. Moreover, and even more interesting, these specimens are composed of twinned crystals which have really sharp and interesting intersections resulting in complex crystallography. Lastly, they fluoresce in an interesting pattern with yellow or white zones at those intersections.
A very sharp, radiating cluster of colemanite crystals in classic form. 4.7 x 4.7 x 3.1 cm
A hugeColemanite crystal from the Boraxo Mine, Inyo County, California. The sharp presentation faces are super-glassy and light-amber colored. Some of the faces have showy, very pronounced stepped growth. The back of piece has micro-crystallized faces and the sides and bottom are cleavage faces. All of the display faces are pristine. 13.0 x 12.5 x 9.3 cm
An excellent cluster of highly lustrous, partially transparent, golden-amber colemanite crystals from the Boraxo Mine, Inyo County, California. This is classic, old-time material. 6.6 x 4.4 x 3.6 cm
ex. Martin Zinn
Microcrystalline white crystals scattered about colemanite make this a rarity - matrix veatchite is uncommon, and this specimen has a 2-cm-long stream of rich spherical aggregates, in the lower-right corner.
ex. Al Ordway
An extremely rich specimen, displayable, of this rare species. A powdery, snow white coating of veatchite, an uncommon strontium-rich borate, covers crystals of lustrous and translucent, colorless colemanite (to 1 cm).
ex. Al Ordway
A very fine and rich display-sized example of colemanite, the classic beautiful mineral from this mine! These robust crystals are considered by many to be world's best of species material. Colemanite, perhaps the best collected and crystallized of the calcium rich borates, seldom comes in crystals so lustrous from other localities, and seldom in crystals so big (or it did so once perhaps, especially in Turkey, but where are those specimens now?). This specimen, a complete floater with no visible points of attachment, is highlighted by several doubly-terminated, lustrous and translucent, ivory colored crystals, to 9 cm in length. It has some subtle color zoning. It has high luster.
ex. Al Ordway
A rare, old locality piece of superb colemanite from this classic locality for the species. A cluster of sparkling, gemmy, intergrown, ivory colored crystals of colemanite, to 2.5 cm on a side, is aesthetically emplaced on matrix. The luster on these crystals is breathtaking and clearly different from California material. Seldom seen on the market today
ex. Al Ordway
A stalactitic crystal of fibrous, pearlescent, and translucent, snow-white ulexite, measuring 9 cm in length, is festooned with lustrous and translucent, white crystals of colemanite, to 1 cm in length. Unusual! I have not seen this association before. It comes with a label indicating it was collected by Jim Minette, here, in 1980.
ex. Al Ordway
Multiple, spearpoint, bladed, lustrous and translucent, crystals of grayish-white colemanite to 3.8 cm in length have combined to form a bowtie effect. At one end, the tips of some of the crystals have been damaged but this cannot be seen when properly displayed.
ex. Al Ordway
Lustrous and translucent, crystals of gray-white celestine, to 2 cm in length totally cover a matrix of colemanite. Unusual association! Collected by Jim Minette in 1990
ex. Al Ordway
A fine, large crystal of lustrous and translucent, equant, colemanite measuring 4.2 cm across is aesthetically perched on smaller colemanite crystals. Partial secondary overgrowths on the main crystal have given it a slightly amber hue. Unusual robust form combined with coloration makes these desirable. Old material, surely.
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