Take quartz that is part amethyst and part citrine and you get the rare combination material "Ametrine!" In nature, it occurs quite rarely, the finest examples being from the Anahi Mine in the high Andes of Bolivia. The material was briefly common on the market but in the earlier 2000s has dried up considerably and larger stones are becoming harder to source. This stone is untreated and natural - some citrines are heated , for the gem trade (but the hue is distinct). The gem shows superb color saturation in both purple and orange which makes for maximal contrast and quality. The rectangular cut is popular for this material as it highlights the color shift in a piece of finished jewelry. There's a nice 60/40 split in colors, with the emphasis on amethyst. Again, a choice quality of a fairly unique, one-localtion item, that is surprisingly difficult to source today. Cheaper ones are available easily, but this quality is more desirable and so I would pay a little premium to have it.

Modern Art in minerals, I call this one...and family and friends who are not into minerals immediately "get it" when they see this in my case (i had it at home for a few years). This fantastic display piece is pristine all around, though multiply repaired and restored at junctions (as all from this pocket of any size were). The crystals exhibit an amazing juxtaposition of prismatic and flat basal terminations in a series: pointy-flat-pointy-flat-pointy right across the piece. Never seen the like, with so many examples of two different terminations of tourmaline upon the same matrix?! The largest tourmaline is 11cm and I can tell you that, as far as I am concerned, the price is reasonable because individual crystals that size or clusters such as we have on the right would add up to the whole pirce pretty quickly here, if it was trimmed and sold in pieces (the tragedy!). Stunning white Cleavelandite is host, and it is sprinkled with metallic purple lepidolite as well so that color abounds and everything is nice and sparkly. The gorgeous multicolored tourmalines (to 4.3 inches or 11 cm in height) stick up and out; while gemmy, clear, perfect quartz points grow amongst the tourmaline on the right side and stick out laterally towards the viewer in front (they are so gemmy they are difficult to photograph in contcxt here - better in person!). The tourmalines have a very 3-dimensional geometry, poking out every which way. When this pocket first came to light during re-mining projects to expand specimen production at the Pederneira Mine in 2001, it all went up to Denver to be prepped and repaired (all large specimens had come apart, and had to be put back together carefully using new techniques developed partly for the purpose). Zinn, a longtime Denver collector and longtime supporter of the company handling the pocket, got a few specimens from the find. This is one of those cases where, for the beauty of the mineral, even a sophisticated collector who might normally shun repairs , will readily accept them in context...so long as the result is as clean and beautiful as this piece is. This was Marty's pick of the lot for a cabinet sized matrix specimen, and he had an early shot at it, too. I have seen pieces at literally triple the price that I did not like so much as this one! It is, despite all the hundreds of specimens I have now seen over the years as the Ped ramped up production, still a unique pocket for combination of colors and matrix. Each pocket over the years has been distinct. This piece in particular always was, again out of literally hundreds of pieces I have seen, one of my absolute favorites and one I lusted after when the Zinn collection was sold. This is one of those pieces that, even amongst a tonne of tourmaline from the same mine, stands out. I would always want it back again, should the owner change his mind a ta later time. Comes with custom lucite base for easy display. (First photo by Joe Budd studios). Illustrated in the important book Minerals of Brazil, and in other places over the years.

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 amonst the red, are sharp black clusters of metallic tetrahedrite which make for a really nice contrast. The overall shape of the piece is very sculptural with a slight curvature to it, not "cookiecutter" or blocky as so many large specimens are trimmed out from the plates they are sawed out on. The piece has the TOP CHERRY COLOR. This is not off-color, not strawberry in hue as so many you see on the market today are. This is a piece that has the color and lustre combination (important!) that, even "way back when" only a few years ago when the mine was still open, even in context of the many finds after 2001 or so before it closed, you couldnt get. Most people then and now settle for pieces with lesser color saturation, less lustre, and more damage...its all that is out there. I sold this one back in the late 90s and was happy to get it back recently! You just cannot find large cabinet rhodos of quality around. And this is one I am happy to have owned again and again, and would do so a third time. They appreciate at such a fast clip every year, 20% or so it seems, that I cannot replace my supply except by buying entire collections with specimens in them. So, I rarely sell mine. Or, as with this one, I'll give it a few months on the web and then pull it down and stash it for the future. Just cashflow...this is one rock I am happy to keep as rhodo today is "red gold" in the bank better than the cash is. Comes with custom lucite base for easy display. Recently, I had the chance to trade this older specimen back from a collector and i STILL find it unique, now, 3 years after I first had it.