This is one of only several dozen large bluecaps to come out of the infamous find by Bill Larson in 1972, which put the Tourmaline Queen back on the map and incidentally jumpstarted modern specimen mining as well. I confirmed the origin of the piece with him, to be sure it really was one of the famous few. If a knowledgeable collector had to name the 5 most famous finds in the history of collectible minerals in this century, this pocket from 1972 would be among them (along with the Jonas Mine Rubellites, and a few other incredible one-off hits). The chance to own a MATRIX specimen from this pocket (unrepaired by the way!), is one that only several dozen folks will ever get. The chance to own a CABINET-SIZED matrix piece from this pocket, of good quality, is one that perhaps less than a dozen collectors will ever get. Most major pieces went into musuems, or into the collections of prominent buyers at the time, and have not yet come to market again....or never will. This piece was one that I found in a small private investment collection assembled in the 1970s, unprepped since the day it was found and attached to a massive piece of quartz which preparator Sandor Fuss was able to trim off for me without losing the crystal in the process. The entire quartz attached to the tourmaline survived the trim intact! It was a miracle - if it had broken, I would have cried. But, here it is, unrepaired and pristine on the front and sides. It is actually even complete around back, although the quartz is contacted where an attached broken quartz crystal and the underlaying matrix back there was removed. That flat-looking left side is in fact a natural face, not a sawmark (and you can see small pink tourmalines there as well!). The piece in person sits up nicely somewhere between the angles shown in the top and lower-left photos but really all angles are pretty good, from the front or right side of view, depending on your own taste. The tourmaline itself measures 9 x 5 x 4 cm in size. Comes with custom lucite base for easy display.

A 12 cm quartz crystal elgantly straddles a large plate of bright arsenopyrite! The quartz itself is dusted with small siderite crysatls

weight = 1/3 kilo or 11 troy ounces This important gold specimen is one of those real rarities you couldn't dream of making better if you could cast the darned thing. The COLOR is phenomenal - unusually pure and golden without the slight darkness that some large golds from this mine can possess. It features a truly arborescent cluster of upright gold crystals, very elegant in form, perched atop quartz matrix. It is not repaired or molded in any way. This is 100% natural! Specimens of this size and quality are VERY , VERY RARE. This particular piece was sold over 25 years ago and has resided in a private collection overseas ever since...and I can tell you that such specimens were then and certainly are now extremely uncommon on the market (i know of just a few of this magnitude). This beast weighs in at 336 grams or 1/3 kilo, which is equal to about 12 ounces or about 11 troy ounces (gold standard weight).