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Basically a doubly-terminated, wonderful himalaya quartz, though it has a little mass of tourmaline and apatite in back as well. 5.5 x 3.2 x 3.2 cm
An interesting, attractive knob of albite with smokies pointing up through it every which way! Acquired from the collection of Tim Sherburn, who got it from Louis Spaulding Jr. (current owner of the mine made famous by his father) in 1993 8.7 x 8.3 x 5.1 cm
This important specimen is a rare matrix morganite with crystals to 4 cm, and gemmy at that. They have a brilliant internal brightness to them and a rich peachy color that is really quite unique to the old White Queen material, not matched for 3 decades. This piece would have originated with mine owner Norm Dawson and it has been through several collections in recent decades, most notably Dr. Edward David's first collection (dispersed in 1993) - his numbered label remains on the backside. At some point in the mid-90s it was repaired (cleanly) by dealer Cal Graeber. The repair is invisible unless you know to look for it and runs betweenm the two major crystals so that the crystals themselves are not repaired as such. Matrix morganties from California are rare, but pieces of this calibre are really limited to just a few dozen pieces and most of those are untouchable because they are in museums or priced over 20 thousand dollars these days. This is like owning a piece of history, and is a good investment as they only go up in value. 10.1 x 9.6 x 9.5 cm
An interesting piece for several reasons: firstly a Stewart matrix tourmaline is uncommon. Secondly, the tourmaline is caught in the process of being etched away and the cap is actually disattached from the main body at this point, held on by the quartz. IN person, the effect is interestign and not as ugly as you would suppose. 6.3 x 5 x 3.6 cm
A truly amazing specimen of lepidolite, a species often relegated to matrix rock and not considered desirable as a mineral per se by advanced collectors. Well, this one should do the trick! It is a REALLY elegant specimen with crystals to 7 cm of sharply hexagonal, translucent, lavender lepidolite perched at the top of a quartz crystal. Pristine in front, though contacted in back. This is a significant and showy addition to any Himalaya suite that begs to be broader than a group of colored sticks, so to speak. It is quite simply one of my very favorite pieces in this entire collection! 9.4 x 9.1 x 6 cm
A sharp quartz crystal with thin inclusions of pale green tourmaline crystals running inside. Tourmaline-included quartz is very uncommon from the Himalaya. One face has been polished to better show off the inclusions. A purchase made by Tim Sherburn from the late Josephine Scripps in 1987 6 x 3.5 x 2.5 cm
A VERY RARE matrix specimen of tourmaline from this mine, which is highly disrupted geologically and from which really fine large tourmalines are relatively uncommon. On matrix...almost unheard of! This piece features a gemmy 4 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm tourmaline attached solidly to a quartz crystal. It is remarkably unrepaired. The crystal is darker than a Himalaya piece might be in its core, though with a brighter and more transparent termination as are all Little 3 tourmalines, and shows good color when backlit. 9.9 x 8.2 x 7.5 cm
A wonderfully balanced combination specimen featuring a 3-cm tourmaline perched, unrepaired, in the junction of a quartz crystal and a sharp microcline feldpsar termination. Nice! Ex. Barlow collection, as well 8.1 x 6.3 x 5 cm
A remarkable specimen recovered in November 2003 while mining the "Beryl Pocket" at the CG. Chris was in attendance and saved this specimen for analysis. It features clearly visible 5 mm-8mm crystals of Paakkonenite in a cluster about 1.5 cm deep in the quartz crystal. The quartz is complete and lustrous on the front side, though contacted on the back and sides. 9 x 7.6 x 4.6 cm
9.9 x 6.1 x 3.2 cm. Epidotes from Pakistan are well-known, but this is actually quite unusual: a plate of matrix, with epidote crystals both sticking up and lying across its surface, in combination with transparent quartz crystals. The matrix is actually a conglomerate made up partly of thousands of micro-epidotes.
6.8 x 1.9 x 1.8 cm. An amazing example of the phenomena of crystal inclusions, where over a dozen little purple fluorite crystals can be clearly seen inside a transparent quartz crystal. The fluorites grew on the surface of the quartz at some point during the formation of the quartz crystal - then the growth of the quartz crystal continued, engulfing the little fluorites so that now they can be clearly seen inside the crystal.
8.3 x 7.4 x 4.7 cm. A large, superb Paprok combination specimen that is distinguished in many ways. The tourmaline crystal actually started out much, much fatter when it began to grow. You can see the pink part underneath; this is actually the lower termination, measuring 4.5 cm across. The growth of the crystal was interrupted above this - you can now see this as a rough contact "shelf" of matrix and tourmaline at the base of the continuation of the crystal, which continued growth as a gemmy light blue crystal. The upper part of the crystal measures 3.4 cm across the termination in the long direction. One thing that makes this specimen special is that the quartz crystals are doubly-terminated floaters. In fact, the only contact is that point where the growth of the tourmaline crystal was interrupted to form the shelf that you see in the foreground of the gemmy blue continued growth, on the back side of the specimen.
6.3 x 4.5 x 4.0 cm. Gene Meieran, from whose collection this specimen came, was a fan of Butte pyrites, judging from the number of them from his collection. This was one in a drawer set of 40 pyrite miniatures and small cabs chosen for aesthetics and representative crystal habit from classic locales. Here are glittery crystals to 2.8 cm in association with milky crystals of quartz. You can see some subtle natural etching here and there on the pyrites. Superb balance and color contrast make this a great miniature. It probably came out in the 1950s or 60s.
6.6 x 3.0 x 2.1 cm. Brandberg is famous for these world-class amethyst crystals, distinguished by their water-clarity and by the isolation of the purple color in beautiful "blushes". This is a relatively large crystal, with a weird flat sidecar crystal; you can see evidence of skeletal growth now enclosed inside the crystal.
9.6 x 7.2 x 5.8 cm. The Urals of Russia are known for fine quartz, some of it so transparent and fine that not only does it form great specimens, but also provides material for glass-clear carvings. What makes the crystals on this specimen interesting, however, is not clarity, but a coating of micro-quartz or calcite that has been deposited only on selective faces, giving the crystals an unusual banded appearance. I have not seen a Russian quartz specimen of this style before. All Content and Design ©1996-2012 The ArkenstonePowered by http://mineralwebsites.comMineral Specimens by species; or by specimen id. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
share specimen![Tourmaline, Apatite, Quartz from Himalaya Mine (Himalaya pegmatite; Himalaya dikes), Gem Hill, Mesa Grande District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20364a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20364a.jpg)
![Albite (Var: Cleavelandite), Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Little Three Mine (Little 3), Ramona District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20365a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20365a.jpg)
![Beryl (Var: Morganite), Albite, Quartz from White Queen Mine, Hiriart Mountain (Heriart; Heriot; Hiriat Hill), Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20369a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20369a.jpg)
![Tourmaline, Quartz from Stewart Mine (MS 6162; Stewart Lithia), Tourmaline Queen Mountain (Pala; Queen), Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20373a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20373a.jpg)
![Lepidolite, Quartz from Tourmaline Queen Mine (MS 6458; Tourmaline Queen No. 3), Tourmaline Queen Mountain (Pala; Queen), Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20375a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20375a.jpg)
![Tourmaline, Quartz from Himalaya Mine (Himalaya pegmatite; Himalaya dikes), Gem Hill, Mesa Grande District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20378a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20378a.jpg)
![Tourmaline, Quartz from Little Three Mine (Little 3), Ramona District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20383a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20383a.jpg)
![Tourmaline, Microcline, Quartz from Himalaya Mine (Himalaya pegmatite; Himalaya dikes), Gem Hill, Mesa Grande District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20386a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20386a.jpg)
![Pääkkönenite, Quartz from Cryo-Genie Mine (Cindy B-Cryogenie; Lost Valley Truck Trail prospect), Warner Springs, Warner Springs District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-20388a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-20388a.jpg)
![Epidote, Quartz from Tormiq valley (Tormic; Tormik; Tormig; Turmiq), Haramosh Mts., Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-203899a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-203899a.jpg)
![Epidote, Quartz from Tormiq valley (Tormic; Tormik; Tormig; Turmiq), Haramosh Mts., Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-203899b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-203899b.jpg)
![Fluorite, Quartz from Amborompotsy, Ambatofinandrahana District, Amoron'i Mania Region, Fianarantsoa Province, Madagascar [db_pics/mdpics/MD-203905a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-203905a.jpg)
![Elbaite, Quartz from Paprok, Nuristan Province (Nurestan; Nooristan), Afghanistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-203908a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-203908a.jpg)
![Pyrite, Quartz from Butte, Butte District, Silver Bow Co., Montana, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-203922a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-203922a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Amethyst) from Brandberg area, Brandberg District, Erongo Region, Namibia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-203926a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-203926a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Middle Urals, Urals Region, Russia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-203927a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-203927a.jpg)