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7 x 4 x 2.5 cm. Over the years I have seen perhaps less than 10 specimens from this pocket found in 1993, which produced strange quartzes of an unearthly green color. They initially were labeled everything from Chrysoprase crystals to Quartz included by dye. It turns out, so far as I know now, that the color is due to dispersed microscopic inclusions of fuchsite, a green mica species. Nevertheless, these are the world's best green quartzes, bar none, whatever the reason may be. This particular crystal is the largest in good condition I know of, and is a pristine floater, complete all around except for a few trivial dings on the bottom tip only. Ex. Lindsay Greenbank Collection.
9 x 7 x 4 cm. This gemmy 2.5 x 2.5 x 7-cm-long crystal is superb. It is so gemmy, clean and limpid that you look right through to the underlying matrix and it’s almost hard to focus on the outer faces of the crystal itself in its midpoint, the eye is so drawn to look through it.
12 x 9 x 5 cm. Ed David had a huge suite of several dozen very fine Herkimer quartz specimens in his collection, assembled over 30 years of collecting. This was, to me, his prize Herkimer quartz specimen. It is a phenomenally gemmy crystal group on matrix, with calcite, acquired in 1998 from miner Nancy Koskie. The calcite association is highly unusual. Not only is there an association, but the quartzes are of highest quality in terms of clarity, brightness, and form. The cluster is attractively perched on the matrix.
10 x 8 x 8 cm. Hedenbergite included quartz tends to be dull and matte-finished, with barely any color, from this locality. However, this piece is superb. It and one other similar specimen came to me in an exchange from the well-known Asselborn collection in France. These are the finest examples I have seen, myself. Not only are they lustrous and colorful, but they were aesthetic. This is dramatic for its overall arrangement and geometry, and the contrast between the stepped multiple faces of the stalks and the sharp, smooth terminations, is striking visually. The matrix on which this castle-like cluster is perched is made up of andradite garnet.
10.8 x 6.9 x 6.7 cm. This is a superb example of a bizarre association. It features a large 9-cm-tall, doubly-terminated quartz crystal, completely and evenly coated by an iridescent, very colorful coating of turgite. The quartz sits on a shard of matrix that was itself coated by turgite and then attached to the quartz. The two pieces are fused solidly together by the turgite overgrowth, and thus the shard provides a natural, curving, artistic pedestal. Complete all around. Ex. John Barlow Collection and accompanied by his signed label.
5.2 x 4.0 x 3.4 cm. This old specimen from a now-closed quarry features really fine, gemmy, relatively large crystals of the extremely rare zeolite species, Yugawaralite. To 1.5 cm in size, these are quite important. They also happen to be beautiful, and high in lustre and gemminess. This specimen came from the personal collection of an Indian dealer, in the mid-1990s.
7.3 x 3.9 x 3 cm. These beautiful specimens are rare survivors of a small find that produced great carving rough for cabochons and jewelry made of chalcedony (it’s gemmy and transparent/translucent). Charlie Key saved some from the wrecker, though, and this specimen is from a flat of this rare and beautiful old material from the 1980s. This one is particularly nice because it is a good-sized plate with excellent translucency and good horizons about the edge.
14.7 x 10.6 x 8.0 cm. A beautiful combination piece. This has clusters of gemmy, bi-colored fluorite crystals, to 3.0 cm across, exhibiting both pastel green and pastel lavender hues. The crystals are cubes modified by octahedral faces. There are also two clusters of lustrous, black sphalerite to 3.5 cm across perched among the fluorite crystals. As an added effect, there is a thin drusy crust of white quartz draped over both the fluorite and sphalerite. All of this is underlain by a matrix of galena, sphalerite and pyrite.
8.1 x 7.7 x 5.3 cm. This matrix specimen has fine aesthetics thanks to well formed lustrous galena crystals, to 2.5 cm in length, upon which are emplaced gemmy, pastel green fluorite crystals, to 3.0 cm across. The contrast of form and color with the galena is superb. The fluorite crystals are cubes with modifying octahedral faces. In addition, there is a drusy crust of white quartz partially covering the lower boundary with the galena crystals for accent.
7.8 x 6.0 x 4.6 cm. Splendent, black sphalerite crystals, to 2.25 cm across, form a matrix on which is impaled a cluster of gemmy, pastel green and pastel lavender, fluorite crystals, to 2.5 cm across. The fluorite crystals exhibit stepped growth of cubes modified by octahedral faces. The 3-tiered specimen has very nice aesthetics, with the sparkle of the overlaying Quartz druse adding a lot to the overall impact.
17.8 x 14.5 x 10.5 cm. Over a dozen transparent, gemmy, undamaged cuboctohedral crystals to 3 cm in size perch like mountain climbers upon this mound of crystallized galena. The contrast is striking. The association is classic for Naica, for old material. For this new find, it seems rather unusual as most of the associations are with sphalerite. Also, the rivulets of sparkling crystallized quartz running down the seams of the piece provide a nice accent and some sparkle and are themselves unusual in the occurrence.
5.9 x 5.0 x 3.8 cm. A beautiful and aesthetic plate dominated by a leaning, pristine, glassy, 4.2 cm smoky quartz crystal. The two smoky quartzes and the plate are richly covered with very gemmy, orange spessartine garnets to 6 mm. This is a highly representative example of the recent finds from Tongbei, China.
9.5 x 7.8 x 5.6 cm. A striking Ruyuan fluorite specimen. A 6.0 cm, lustrous, translucent, lightly etched, green fluorite cuboctahedron is superbly set atop a sloping matrix of contrasting milky quartz. These fluorites came out in modest numbers for only a short time, then became scarce (see recent Min. Record China issue for more on these). It is quite hard now to find nice-looking, undamaged crystals on matrix.
6.8 x 5.2 x 2.8 cm. An excellent, very glassy, water-clear, twisted, smoky quartz gwindel from the Val Giuv of Switzerland. The classic crystal form displays well from either side. The upper, major portion of the specimen is totally pristine on both sides. It is glassy - not just gemmy and clear, but glassy in lustre, at a high level for the style. Ex. Scott Williams and Evan Jones Collections.
4.4 x 4.2 x 4.0 cm. A gemmy and lustrous, 2.1 cm, vivid pink tourmaline is aesthetically set between two sharp, glassy, smoky quartz crystals. The specimen is very nicely accented by a spray of pearlescent, bladed cleavelandite. Classic material from the Himalaya Mine of California. All Content and Design ©1996-2012 The ArkenstonePowered by http://mineralwebsites.comMineral Specimens by species; or by specimen id. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
share specimen![Quartz, Muscovite (Var: Fuchsite) from Chaprot valley, Chalt, Gilgit District, Northern Areas, Pakistan [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224148a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224148a.jpg)
![Quartz, Dolomite from Morro Velho mine (incl. Mina Velha; Mina Grande), Nova Lima, Iron Quadrangle, Minas Gerais, Southeast Region, Brazil [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224149a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224149a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Herkimer Diamond), Calcite from Ace of Diamonds Mine, Middleville, Town of Newport, Herkimer Co., New York, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224150a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224150a.jpg)
![Quartz, Hedenbergite from Sinerechenskoe skarn occurrence (Sinerechenskoye; Sineretschenskoye; Sinerechenskiy Mine; Blue River), Kavalerovo Mining District, Dal'negorsk (Dalnegorsk; Tetyukhe; Tjetjuche; Tet [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224151a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224151a.jpg)
![Turgite, Quartz from Kyanite Mine, Graves Mountain, Lincoln Co., Georgia, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224158a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224158a.jpg)
![Turgite, Quartz from Kyanite Mine, Graves Mountain, Lincoln Co., Georgia, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224158b.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224158b.jpg)
![Yugawaralite, Gyrolite, Quartz from Khandivali Quarry (Kandivali Quarry), Mumbai District (Bombay District), Maharashtra, India [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224175a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224175a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Chalcedony), Fluorite from Blinkpan, Karas Region, Namibia [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224180a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224180a.jpg)
![Fluorite, Sphalerite, Quartz from Naica, Mun. de Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224746a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224746a.jpg)
![Fluorite, Galena, Quartz from Naica, Mun. de Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224751a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224751a.jpg)
![Fluorite, Sphalerite, Quartz from Naica, Mun. de Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224757a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224757a.jpg)
![Spessartine, Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Wushan Spessartine Mine, Tongbei, Yunxiao Co., Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province, China [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224924a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224924a.jpg)
![Fluorite, Quartz from Ruyuan fluorite mine, Ruyuan Co., Shaoguan Prefecture, Guangdong Province, China [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224925a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224925a.jpg)
![Quartz (Var: Smoky Quartz) from Giuv Valley, Tujetsch (Tavetsch), Vorderrhein Valley, Grischun (Grisons; Graubünden), Switzerland [db_pics/mdpics/MD-224936a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-224936a.jpg)
![Elbaite, Quartz, Albite (Var: Cleavelandite) from Himalaya Mine (Himalaya pegmatite; Himalaya dikes), Gem Hill, Mesa Grande District, San Diego Co., California, USA [db_pics/mdpics/MD-225041a.jpg]](db_pics/mdpics/MD-225041a.jpg)