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A showy and important CABINET combination piece from the 2003 find at the Cryo-Genie Mine of two indicolite tourmalines to 4.3 cm with glassy, translucent, smoky quartz crystals, purple lepidolite and milky-white cleavelandite. The upper portion of the tourmalines are very gemmy and lustrous and both have matte-finish terminations. Pegmatite pocket tectonics often cause disruption of the contents and thus some breaks in situ, in San Diego in particular. This piece has been expertly repaired once in the midpoint of the larger tourmaline but this is on the backside and you cannot see the line from the display face. this remains important because it is one of few matrix gemmy tourmaline specimens from the mine, and the tourmalines are quite showy as they peek above the matrix to the front. There is minor edge damage to one of the smokies - certainly does not detract from this very showy piece. The base and back have been sawed to enhance display so it sits nicely, just so. This is a VERY RARE San Diego specimen from a short-lived mine! Ex Chris Korpi Collection 12.0 x 8.0 x 7.0 cm
AN AESTHETIC and MOST UNUSUALLY-SHAPED, translucent, colorless quartz crystal from the famous Bor Quarry at Dalnegorsk, Russia. These crystals are unique to the Bor Quarry. Quartz crystal growth was interrupted by calcite, as evidenced by stacked, poker chip-looking section in the middle of the crystal. Quartz dissolved and replaced the calcite and the crystal continued to grow to the termination. This unique piece is complete all-around, with only slight contacting on the back, near the termination. 8.2 x 2.5 x 2.1 cm
SUPERB and AESTHETIC, doubly terminated, parallel-growth, polychrome tourmaline crystals with an aesthetically attached smoky quartz crystal and a smaller tourmaline from the famous Otjua Pegmatite, Namibia. The gemmy and lustrous tourmaline crystals grade from pastel-green to pastel-pink to cranberry-red at the terminations. Overall, its a stunner! This is from the late 1980s 3.5 x 2.3 x 1.4 cm
A BEAUTIFUL and AESTHETIC specimen of a nest of botryoidal, pastel-green prehnite surrounded by spires of water-clear and lustrous quartz crystals from the recent find at Brandberg in the Erongo Mountains of Namibia. Trivial termination bruising to the two largest quartz crystals is barely noticeable. 4.8 x 4.5 x 2.9 cm
A STRIKING and DRAMATIC CABINET specimen of a glassy and highly lustrous smoky quartz crystal filled with lustrous, golden rutile needles to over 9 cm! That is HUGE for rutile crystals! and the beauty is incredible, especially when backlit nicely. The crystal has very interesting stepped faces and the rutile needles grew in all directions. Trivial termination and edge bruising are barely noticeable, certainly not detracting from this showy large piece. This came to me out of Ed Swoboda''s garage and is an older specimen. 14.3 x 7.5 x 6.3 cm
An EXCELLENT and showy Cryo-Genie Mine CABINET combination piece from teh Chris Korpi Collection. It features a large and glassy, 4.0 cm colorless beryl crystal nicely set in albite matrix with lustrous, smoky quartz crystals and gemmy, polychrome, pencil tourmalines to 2.0 cm. The beryl crystal was tested as cesium-rich, I am told by Korpi. The bit of edgewear on the beryl corner is certainly not detracting too much visually, but there is a small cleaved area up there on the top corner of the crysatl. It is VERY gemmy and bright, and the contrast to matrix really highlights the colorlessness of the beryl. For the mine, this is absolutely superb in quality. 10.3 x 8.4 x 6.8 cm
A sizeable combo specimen of gemmy purple fluorite crystals to over 2 cm with equally gemmy quartz crystals, some of them with an unusual flattened form, wiith chlorite inclusions that add a pretty moss-green accent. The fluorites are beautifully set off against the quartz cluster, and this cluster is complete all the way around - with attachment only on the bottom. 11.9 x 9.7 x 5.6cm
Look at these perfect pastel-green balls of fluorite, nestled like eggs on a plate of contrasting light-gray quartz crystals! A large and dramatic specimen! The fluorites measure to 1.7 cm across. These came out in one find of about 4 years ago anow and are unobtainable 12.2 x 10.0 x 3.9cm
This Dalnegorsk piece came with a $400 pricetag from the previous dealer, and you can see why. These beautifully-formed, mirror-metallic galenas (to 2 cm) sit on a matrix of slender quartz crystals, some of which have little balls of green quartz on them from a subsequent solution in the pocket. 11.4 x 9.5 x 4.6cm
A very large, GEMMY, deep purple crystal of amethyst, very clearly from Bolivia rather than Brazil with this saturated color. The faces are super-sharp and lustrous, and in superb condition. There are pretty peaked sub-terminations in places on the faces. weighs just over 1400 grams! 12.5 x 12.2 x 11.0cm (1.5 kilos!)
I will say right off that this superb Swiss smoky does have a ding at its tip, which keeps it from being a $2,000 specimen - but if you can handle the ding, you can get a really spectacular specimen by winningthe bidding on this one! It has just the best gemminess, the top you ever see, characteristic of the best Swiss smoky specimens. And "cut-glass" modifications around the faces make it even more attractive. This whopper crystal came out of the Pete Dunn collection. 16.1 x 7.1 x 7.0cm
A very pretty example of the gemmy amethyst discovered in Georgia recently that has caused quite a stir, due to the pretty purple blush in the crystal exteriors (rather than the rather boring uniform purple of, say, common Brazilian amethyst). Plus, any new American amethyst find is rather exciting! This stuff is NOT cheap!! Normal contacts around ther periphery. 6.6 x 6.1 x 4.3cm
A STUNNING, transparent quartz crystal filled with brilliant, golden-brown rultile blades from Diamantina, Brazil. It is pristine save for a t trivial termination bruise - certainly not detracting from this very showy piece, in all honesty/ You see first teh incredible rutile inside, then you realize how amazingly glassy the piece is and that it is not polished to be this way! This is, gram for gram, the finest rutilated quartz point i have ever seen! Small, but sooooo choice! 3.6 x 1.2 x 0.7 cm
A showy and excellent specimen of lustrous, micro crystals of gold on snow-white albite and quartz matrix from the Eldorado Mine of the famous Gympie Region of Queensland, Australia. 2.3 x 1.8 x 1.5 cm
This is a large cluster of wonderful deep purple amethyst crystals, with the superb intensity and flash characteristic of Uruguay (as opposed to the lighter and more mundane and common Brazilian specimens). It is a complete mound of crystals wrapped around a central chunk of matrix rock, so it has a really pleasing overall form. A very flashy and showy specimen! 14.2 x 9.8 x 8.4cm All Content and Design ©1996-2012 The ArkenstonePowered by http://mineralwebsites.comMineral Specimens by species; or by specimen id. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||