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Mineral Specimens with Quartz
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23 x 9 x 5 cm. For the size and overall visual impact, this is a stunning and unusually large rhodo plate with SHARP, and I mean SHARP, GEMMY crystals to 2 cm in size. Most of them average 1 cm. Sprinkled amongst the red, are sharp black clusters of metallic tetrahedrite which make for a really nice contrast. The piece has the TOP CHERRY COLOR.
5.8 x 5.4 x 3.3 cm. A beautiful burst of quartz crystals has grown on stalks of sparkly, stalactitic quartz - this is an older specimen from Rio Grande do Sul. Ex. Charles Hansen collection.
8.4 x 7.1 x 2.8 cm. An OLD Virginia amethyst crystal, with unusual tabular form and as you can see, BRIGHT violet color and SUPERB transparency! Though there is some damage at the two ends, that rippling along the termination is not damage, but natural contact (it is mineral-coated). This old-timer absolutely GLOWS! Ex. Richard Hauck historic Quartz collection.
6.9 x 5.0 x 5.1 cm. The matrix is covered with small, gemmy red-orange spessartine garnets, and there are a couple of smokies here, one of which is a VERY uncommon (for these) doubly-terminated crystal that penetrates right through edge of the matrix.
13.5 x 11.4 x 5.5 cm. The Wein Collection was packed with Alpine specimens, this being one of them from the collection, which was dispersed last year: a large cluster of dozens of sharp quartz crystals shooting in all directions. Smaller crystals formed on some of the original ones in a later generation of growth.
10.4 x 10.4 x 5.9 cm. I will say right up front that this large classic combo from Colorado has a number of broken-off smoky quartz crystals. Often these clusters are pretty bashed apart in the pockets and have to be reassembled, and this one apparently could not be gotten out of the ground with the smokies intact. Still, it is very impressive for the fine contrast between the dark smokies and the wonderful deep robin's-egg blue color of the amazonites, which are in superb condition. So if you look at this as an amazonite specimen, it really is quite wonderful for the species.
5.7 x 5.2 x 2.1 cm. An exquisite example of the prized Guerrero amethyst, showing all the things that make these so desirable, including color zoning, pastel color, silky luster and, in this case, a really aesthetic arrangement of the crystals. The tallest crystal measures just under 5 cm. The trim job is fabulous, right up to the crystals with no damage.
11.5 x 8.7 x 4.9 cm. A NEW FIND from the prolific De'an area of mines - and a really unique one at that: a cluster of balls of faceted-looking pyrite, glittery and golden, on the tips of a densely-packed cluster of milky quartz crystals!
9.1 x 4.9 x 3.2 cm. A row of sharp smoky quartz crystals on a curving bed of little euhedral crystals of microcline, from Argentina. Ex. Dave Stoudt Collection.
4.4 x 4.2 x 3.9 cm. A pretty little combo piece of shiny, golden pyrite cubes set in a nest of slender, gemmy quartz crystals.
7.3 x 4.8 x 3.9 cm. I love how this pristine gem of a fluorite crystal (1.7 cm) sits there all by itself amidst the beautifully contrasting, milky quartz crystals. You can see some accenting muscovite here and there as well.
6.2 x 5.1 x 3.9 cm. A thin layer of drusy quartz adds sparkle to a rich pocket wall covered with botryoidal chrysocolla of an intense turquoise-blue.
13.9 x 10.9 x 4.5 cm. Pyrite is mined by the ton in Peru, but really standout specimens worthy of a good collection are still exceptional. This is one of those, and it has it all! First, the pyrite crystals are ringed around a central quartz-filled recess, which gives the specimen very unusual "structure" compared to the normal plate of wall-to-wall crystals. Secondly, the crystals have the absolute top mirror-brightness to them, some of them with pretty micro-terracing on their faces. Small sphalerites are sprinkled here and there amongst the pyrites.
14.8 x 4.4 x 3.9 cm. This is a large crystal of "ametrine" (combination of yellow and purple tones) quartz from Bolivia, which got its weird form and silky luster from natural etching. If you hold it up to the light, you can see that it is very gemmy through the center; these are sometimes cut into stones, often showing the multiple colors. This one has a beautiful purple glow and a golden band running through the center/top.
8.3 x 7.4 x 4.4 cm. This quartz does not look that special in the photo, but in person, it has this super-aesthetic form to it, with four crystals leaning against one another in a really attractive way. And, they are OPTICAL QUALITY, which you cannot see from the photo, with no damage at all and pretty striations on the faces.
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Rob Lavinsky, rob@irocks.com
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