|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Recently, over the last 2 years, a small trickle of incredible rhodonites have come out of this old manganese mine in Brazil, now undergoing much more exploration for specimen potential. This small lot of crystals was hoarded there from finds over the last year or so, and released to me just before the Denver show. They compare favorably to, and in fact are better than most, rhodonites from the classic older locality of Broken Hill. This is something I would not have believed possible til I saw these - Broken Hill rhodonites always set the standard in the past. This is a rare instance in minerals when a new find takes us all off guard; and although the crystal habit is different than those from Broken Hill, for the first time in 60 years or more we have again some world class rhodonite crystals of size and gemminess.
RD08-01 - Rhodonite - $8500 SOLD Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 5.1 x 3.7 x 1.5 cm
A beautiful, cherry-red cluster of extremely sharp crystals arranged diagonally as I would display it, with good gemminess and clean pure color. The piece is extremely translucent even with only moderate backlihgting and is dramatic for its "mountainscape" geometry. All the "peaks" are pristine and terminated. There is only a little divot in the smaller frontal "peak" of a crystal, but that is natural contact and not damage. IN person its not distracting. The right side crystal is terminated all around the backside. All other crystals are complete around their terminations to the back. This composite cluster of crystals is, I feel, a major specimen for the species, and quite elegant compared to some of the more "blocky" examples which seem to be the norm here. Note that in person, these all have better lustre (as shown in the vertical photo designed to show lustre, thought not form, accurately).
RD08-02 - Rhodonite - $3000 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 5.4 x 3.0 x 1.8 cm
This is a robust, thick, composite cluster with fat crystals of a pure cherry red color. They are all translucent, and when backlit this positively glows. Even in normal lighting, it is translucent at edges. The crystal is complete and fully terminated all around except for very minor edge wear on the left side edge only - not seen in any case from the front display. Seldom could you see anything comprable from Broken Hill, where slender crystals are more common than robust pieces with the good color like this.
RD08-03 - Rhodonite - $3500 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil small cabinet, 7.7 x 3.2 x 2.8 cm
A stunning, visually impactful and very large piece that is among the largest I have yet seen with good crystal form. The piece sits horizontally or stands vertically to equal effect. It is extremely translucent to transparent at the edges. Even despite the thickness (1 inch!!!), it is a pure cherry color and very translucent throughout. This cluster has one VERY FAT crystal as a base, that is 1 inch thick and tapers to a point. The sidecar crystal is about 3.5 cm long and slender. The back side of the piece is contacted as shown vertical(or the bottom as it sits horizontal), and there is a small bit of damage at the lower part of the tapering termination atop. However, this is not a big visual detraction and otherwise I can say the piece would have cost me over 10k in Brazil if totally perfect. It is, for what it is, still so significant and so displayable that I am wiling to overlook that little tiny damaged bit at the bottom of the termination - at the right price, which I am passing on at essentially the cost to me in the lot.
RD08-04 - Rhodonite - $4750 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 5.5 x 2.4 x 1.2 cm
A killer miniature with sharp geometric form, composed of several intergrown crystals. The piece is a pure cherry-red color with no brown, and is displayable on both horizontal and vertical axes. As shown horizontally, it is pristine on all ront and side faces, slightly contacted in back, and sits flat on a base termination that I believe is slightly contacted (and not broken). Standing vertical, it is perhaps even more dramatic, though. This kind of miniature, with color and form, would be tens of thousands of dolalrs if from Broken Hill's old finds. Again, I am shocked to see trhdonite in this quality, and "relatively" affordable, from a new find.
RD08-05 - Rhodonite - $1500 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil thumbnail, 2.5 x 2.2 x 1.8 cm
This is the best thumbnail I have yet seen in the new lots, and it is composed of a cluster of a large twin in the middle with 3 intergrown untwinned crystals. The piece is pristine in front and has just a few contacts on the back but is essentially completely formed around the back as well. Complex form, juicy color, and trnaslucency make this a vrey interesting piece in its own right, not just a "small examnple."
RD08-06 - Rhodonite - $6000 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil small cabinet, 7.3 x 4.4 x 2.7 cm
This is a huge single, very robust crystal measuring over an inch thick! It GLOWS when backlit but even with moderate lighting is quite translucent, and a shockingly uniform cherry red color. As it sits horizontally, the crystal is complete on front and side terminations, slightly contacted in back and to the lower-right termination's underbelly (this does not show). As stood vertically, I love the dramatic display of color and the change in form of the termination as it goes up (those are natural faces, not cleaves!) , though it then has some contact on the back-right side not facing the viewer at this angle.
RD08-07 - Rhodonite - $7500 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil small cabinet, 6.6 x 4.5 x 1.5 cm
In some ways, this is my favorite of the lot for its sleek dramatic display. This crystal leaps off of a massive rhodonite base and has a really sharp, gemmy, transparent to translucent termination. It is slightly contacted on the back, and lower edges only, but that front face is smooth and perfectly presented. It is a huge crystal face, and displays head-on with impact. Front and back are shown - no "glow" shot isneeded because it shows up this gemmy even in just moderate lighting.
RD08-08 - Rhodonite - $2000 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 5.3 x 2.3 x 1.1 cm
A very colorful, highly lustrous cluster of rhodonite with a small bit of attached matrix atop, this is an excellent specimen for the price because it has color, sharp form, and overall would have been a worldbeater from Broken Hill in any case. It is just a bit short on height compared to width, but if you sit it on a shelf and backlight, the upside is that the whole length glows with a deep vibrant cherry color and it has a beter transparency for the size than others here, due to all that width for light to go through. In person, the lustre on this one is also among the best of the lot, bordering on metallic in shimmer.
RD08-09 - Rhodonite - $7500 SOLD Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 5.0 x 3.2 x 1.1 cm
This is a near-floater cluster of two intergrown crystals of a vibrant cherry red color, with artful manganese dendrites sprinkled within. It is hard to decide which side could be the better front face. The major crystal is complete all around and nearly transparent. It is the best miniature of my lot, in outright quality of form, perfection, and transparency. ANY of the four sides could be the top face, really. I just picked for the photo the side with the most complexity to show off, but if you turn it upside down because you prefer the sharper junction of planes on top, that is fine as well...there's no "wrong" way to display this piece. The backside is also complete on the floater crystal, but there is a small , slender attached crystal that has a slight contact or shallow cleave, facing out. That smaller crystal is, however, also gemmy and doubly-terminated, and the contact or cleave is shallow and frankly not a visual distraction (lower row showing normal lighting and backlit a little more strongly). If from Broken Hill, this would be off the charts in price. As one of the best miniatures yet seen come up from Brazil, to my knowledge, it is priced fairly in the realm where you can get a MAJOR piece for the species at a price for which its hard to find greatness nowadays in anything this colorful and rare.
RD08-10 - Rhodonite - $3500 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 5.5 x 2.7 x 1.6 cm
A large, robust, fat crystal with incredible lustre to its front faces, and translucent to transparent especially in its top half (not shown well in the photo, sorry). The piece is large and colorful, and is relatively lower-priced than others because of damage, unseen form this angle, to the rear-left of the termination and a cleave on the left hand side facing away. Still, its a piece that dominates a case visually and looks like a far more expensive specimen, I would say. The color here is so deep , its hard to show the gemminess in the top half in our closeup.
RD08-11 - Rhodonite - $1200 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 4.8 x 3.3 x 2.9 cm
A cherry-red, robust cluster of rhodonite, very lustrous, that is geometrically complex on several subfaces leading up to the termination. The termination is fat and lustrous, unusually sloped and broad. It has some small damage to the righthand side were you to look head-on from above rather than as shown here. The left side is complete as you can see, and the right side face is probably contacted. Howevre, it still displays VERY impressively and is a lot of color, and a wide frontal surface with a good termination view at this angle, for the price - again, unprecedented by previous standards.
RD08-12 - Rhodonite gem - $900 Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 4.8 x 3.3 x 2.9 cm
RD08-13 - Rhodonite gem - $750 SOLD Morro da Mina, Conselheiro Lafaiete, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil miniature, 4.8 x 3.3 x 2.9 cm All Content and Design ©1996-2008 The Arkenstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
