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TUC09-SP-01 Calcite on Fluorite - $1800 Moscona Mine, Villabona, Asturias, Spain CABINET, 13.8 x 13.6 x 6.6 cm
From a large private collection of Spanish minerals, a cabinet-sized version of somethign we normally only see as smaller speicmens! A thin veneer of limestone matrix is the host for a plate of glassy and gemmy, yellow-amber, fluorite crystals to 8 mm across. A later generation of lustrous and translucent, ivory colored calcite crystals, to 5 cm in length and of complex combinations of rhombohedral and prismatic habits, has almost completely covered the earlier fluorite. The effect is dramatic, like medusae shooting out. Very nice color and sculptural contrast make this one of the better large examples from this famous locality, and quite distinct in its combination from calcite of other locales. Remarkably, there is almost zero damage, and nothing of any bother worth noting, despite the size and 3-dimensionality of this piece. I am frankly shocked it is in such nice condition.
TUC09-SP-02 Fluorite - $1950 Moscona Mine, Villabona, Asturias, Spain CABINET, 15.2 x 10.5 x 6.0 cm
Emplaced on a VERY 3-dimensional limestone matrix is a plate of glassy and gemmy, light golden yellow, fluorite crystals to 1 cm across. The photos do not do justice to the overall impact and 3-D nature of the piece, so you know. These crystals are enhanced by a preferential drusy coating of ivory colored calcite on the fluorites, on certain faces only, which gives a slight but important accent in the form of a winding ribbon, to the overall geometry of the piece. A superb exmaple from this classic locality, in remarkable condition with no damage save some minor contacts at a few peripheral edges - and even those rather minor. This is from a private collection in Spain, accumulated over decades. It is one of the larger, more 3-dimensional pieces I have seen come out in such nice condition.
TUC09-SP-03 Fluorite and Calcite - $1850 Moscona Mine, Villabona, Asturias, Spain LARGE CABINET, 19.3 x 11.7 x 7.8 cm
Three generations of crystallization have occurred on this limestone matrix. The first to form was a plate of lustrous and translucent, amber-colored crystals of fluorite, to .5 cm across. Next to form were clusters of intergrown, saddle shaped, ivory colored calcite. The third generation resulted in large, lustrous and translucent, ivory colored rhombohedrons of calcite, to 6.5 cm across - including one big crystal perched right at the apex of the specimen; and, remarkably not only is it complete 360 degerees around, but it is pristine! Aside from any locality value, this is therefore an interesting specimen with fascinating paragenesis. Very nice color and sculptural contrast make this one of the better large examples from this famous locality, and quite distinct in its combination from calcite of other locales. In fact, it is very similar to material from old quarries in Shullsberg, Wisconsin - but those of course do not grow on fluorite! Remarkably, there is almost zero damage, and nothing of any bother worth noting, despite the size and 3-dimensionality of this rather large specimen. I am frankly shocked it is in such nice condition. This is from a private collection in Spain, accumulated over decades. It is one of the larger, more 3-dimensional large pieces I have seen come out in such fine condition. T
TUC09-X8 - AQUAMARINE on ALBITE - $17,500 Haramosh Mountains, Northern Areas, Pakistan ex. Gene Meieran collection LARGE CABINET, 22 x 15 x 11 cm
This stunning, large matrix aquamarine specimen is from the same unique find of several years ago, as the specimen above. It is not just a "big flashy aqua" with size and color...like others from this find, it has a unique 3-dimensionality to it. The piece is dramatic, for the way the starkly contrasting crystallized albite matrix serves as host to a the gemmy, glassy, unusually isolated and upright crystals. There are 2 small repairs (one to the smallest aqua, and one to the basejunction of the middle large aqua crystal) , but they are trivial in context given the size and pricepoint of the piece, I would say. The aquamarines from this find are very blue and gemmy, with internal phantoms of medium opacity running up halfway through the larger crystals. This is a characteristic of this now-infamous pocket found in late 2005 and brought to market in 2006, a pocket that I think will stand the test of time for, again, its uniqueness in three factors: crystal quality and color; the unusual internal phantoms; matrix aesthetics; and the fact that the albite matrix is crystallized nicely. So many aquas occur on boring ol' rock matrix...to get them to stick on crystallized matrix, and standing upright, has always been a challenge for Mother Nature. I acquired the specimen by exchange recently, from the Gene Meieran collection. In more robust economic times, there is no reason why this could not be priced up to half again as much, but he got it direct, and passed on to me fairly, and it is, I truly believe, priced for the market.
TUC09-101 RUTILE with Sphene and Albite - $3500 (SOLD) Alchuri, Shigar Valley, Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan ex. Richard Kosnar collection CABINET, 9.8 x 8.7 x 3.1 cm
This is a bizarre Pakistani specimen, quite different from any rutile I have seen before from this region. It is a very aesthetic piece with a crosshatched cluster of pipelike (for lack of a better word) rutile crystals that runs along the plate of albite and green sphenes, like irrigation pipes with a few outlets sticking up here and there. I believe this to be a fairly significant rutile for this famous alpine-type deposit, as it is large, interesting, and of display quality. Ex. Richard Kosnar collection (he specialized in minerals of the world's alpine type deposits).
TUC09-103 UVAROVITE Garnet - $14500 Saranovskaya, Middle Ural Mountains, Perm Oblast, Russia (TYPE LOCALITY) ex. Richard Kosnar collection LARGE CABINET, 18.3 x 13.1 x 2.0 cm
This large plate of the rare uvarovite garnet varietal is the largest and finest I personally know of or have seen. Since 1832 when they were found at this, the Type Locality for the species, this garnet has been the standard of excellence for a green garnet species. Named after Count Sergey Semeonovich Uvarov (1786-1855), Russian statesman and scholar, President of the Academy of St Petersburg (1818-1855) - according to MINDAT. For the collector, this is thus a historical specimen and a beauty. This plate is museum-sized, and rich in quality as well as having that size. Uvarovite crystals do not grow so large as other species of garnet, especially from this locality where most crystals are sub-mm in size and 2mm crystals are considered noteworthy. This specimen has crystals to a whopping 5.5 mm - DOZENS if not hundreds of them. Although there is some damage, it is relatively minor and lost amidst hundreds, literally, of bright and reflective pristine crystals on this plate. This specimen was in the Richard Kosnar collection since it came out of an old Russian collection in 2001. When I first saw it, my mouth dropped. I had no idea such a piece existed.
TUC09-104 HAMBERGITE - $9500 Shengus, Haramosh Mts., Skardu District, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakistan CABINET, 13.4 x 10.9 x 7.3 cm
This is a 1.1-kilo single , euhedral crystal of the rare species Hambergite! Shokcingly, it is even a floater, complete all around (though several faces are less well developed, all are present). I have never imagined such a large hambergite, and surviving unetched by later dissolution in the pocket as so many are. This is the largest complete crystal, in fact, that I know of - aside from the fact that it is of high quality. The whole crystal is translucent when backlit. It is a MAJOR display-quality rarity worthy of a major museum or private collection, representing a shocking order of magnitude size difference compared to wha tyou would expect for a sharp hambergite normally (crystals 100-150 grams are normally considered large from other locales). This was mined , apparently, around october of 2008. It is hard to photograph because it has such soft reflectivity, and is so large. It is quite a bit better, in person.
TUC09-105 FLUORITE on Adularia - $12500 Massif de lAiguille Verte, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France CABINET, 10.4 x 7.2 x 4.1 cm
This specimen if from a find of fall 2007 (though held and not released to market til summer of '08 when the lot was sold to a private fluorite collector), which has really shocked the French fluorite collectors that I know, and is the kind of rare locality find that impresses outsiders as well. The color , lustre, and transparency of these crystals is above average for Chamonix, more of a vibrant pink-red than the usual muted pink hues we have seen in most pockets of these rare Alpine fluorites. This specimen has crystals to 4.25 cm, perched on a slender shard of white , crystallized adularia (feldspar) matrix. It is a stunning association, and contrast. The crystals here climb up the shard, one atop the other. Note how gemmy and translucent the top crystal is. It has a termination that is complete all around, 360 degrees. The piece itself, actually, is ALSO complete all around the backside, if somewhat roughly crystallized compared to the front. The point is, though, that the crystals all wrap around and have sharp edges as well. In person, this has better lustre than in the photos - it seems very hard to convey accurately. It has been since 1998 and the Pt Kurtz pocket that a single find of pink/red fluorite from the Alps has gotten so much attention and produced a new, unprecedented quality. This does not happen, thus, very often. Few good specimens were available, under several dozen.
TUC09-106 FLUORITE on Adularia - $3000 Massif de lAiguille Verte, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France SMALL CABINET, 5.9 x 4.4 x 3.9 cm
This specimen if from a find of fall 2007 (though held and not released to market til summer of '08 when the lot was sold to a private fluorite collector), which has really shocked the French fluorite collectors that I know, and is the kind of rare locality find that impresses outsiders as well. The color , lustre, and transparency of these crystals is above average for Chamonix, more of a vibrant pink-red than the usual muted pink hues we have seen in most pockets of these rare Alpine fluorites. This specimen has crystals to 2 cm, perched on stark white, crystallized adularia (feldspar) matrix. It is a stunning association, and contrast. The crystals here are piled up, one atop the other. Note how gemmy and translucent the top crystal is. It has a termination that is complete all around, 360 degrees. In person, this has better lustre than in the photos - it seems very hard to convey accurately. It has been since 1998 and the Pt Kurtz pocket that a single find of pink/red fluorite from the Alps has gotten so much attention and produced a new, unprecedented quality. This does not happen, thus, very often. Few good specimens were available, under several dozen.
TUC09-107 FLUORITE on Adularia - $18500 Massif de lAiguille Verte, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France SMALL CABINET, 6.0 x 4.9 x 3.3 cm
This specimen if from a find of fall 2007 (though held and not released to market til summer of '08 when the lot was sold to a private fluorite collector), which has really shocked the French fluorite collectors that I know, and is the kind of rare locality find that impresses outsiders as well. The color, lustre, and transparency of these crystals is above average for Chamonix, more of a vibrant pink-red than the usual muted pink hues we have seen in most pockets of these rare Alpine fluorites. This particular specimen is one of my favorite miniatures recovered, with SHARP AND GEMMY, transparent crystals to 2.7 cm. They ar evibrantly lustrous - better in person! The crystals are perched on stark white, crystallized adularia (feldspar) matrix. It is a stunning association and contrast. The crystals here are piled up, one atop the other. Note that the apex crystal has a termination that is complete all around, 360 degrees. In person, it is see-through gemmy and more bright than it appears in the photos. The specimen is pristine save a small contact or cleave on the lower and leftmost fluorite crystal, and the tiniest little white spot from an adularia contact on the left edge of the big crystal. The piece displays magnificently. There has ALWAYS been a premium attached to Alpine pink fluorites. I know these seem expensive! However, all I can say is that, in Europe, I have seen the same absolute numbers on pieces but in EUROS instead of in USD. And this at nearly 1.5 ratio, so a super premium. Compared to others I have seen in the past, these are a better quality more in line with what the top gem fluorites of other localities aim for; and the price here is probably more warranted than on any other pocket of pinks fro mthe Alps since 1998 when another such special find came out. It has been since 1998 and the Pt Kurtz pocket that a single find of pink/red fluorite from the Alps has gotten so much attention and produced a new, unprecedented quality. This does not happen, thus, very often. Few good specimens were available, under several dozen.
TUC09-108 APOPHYLLITE - $12500 #2 Quarry, Pashan Hills, near Poona, Maharashtra, India ex. Marvin Rausch Collection LARGE CABINET, 29.1 x 15.8 x 10.7 cm
Many people think of Indian green apophyllite as rather common stuff. However, I would argue that the top quality level of material coming out today stands on its own merits as a superior mineral find, by any standard. Pretty specimens are common - Great specimens are not. This, then, is a great specimen from an old find and in a style not matched by anythign being mined today that I have seen. In the older days, in the1970s-early 1980s when this material was first starting to come out in quantity, there was a unique style found at the Pashan Hills qurry which had these rows of sharp, mint-colored crystals standing upright on white stilbite. To this day, the style remains unique to that era. They are more minty-colored, more sparkly and lustrous, and I love the geometry of the "hedgerows" standing upon rolling hills of stilbite-coated basalt matrix. This is a combination immediately recognizable and this particular specimen is very similar to the famous example from this pocket (which I handled and sold in about 2000), fesatured on thecover of Min Record in 1984. With long hedgerows on a huge matrix, almost no damage, and sharp crystals to 3 cm, this stands as a superior example of the find. These are, to me, the most desirable style of Indian apophyllite to own save only a few exceptions from small pockets during more recent times. Comes with custom lucite base for display.
TUC09-110 ROSELITE with QUARTZ - $3500 Aghbar Mine, Bou Azzer, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco ex. Eric Asselborn Collection CABINET, 12.8 x 8.5 x 5.9 cm
This is a unique specimen combining a druse of small sparkly quartz crystals with a druse of small sparkly roselites, in a naturally contoured pocket. The overlay of the quartz on theroselite creates a beautiful effect, as you can see! I have seen small example of this mix, but never anything of this magnitude. It seems, to me, a unique piece. It is not your typical quartz specimen, nor your typical roselite. It is just a unique Moroccan piece, period. This is not recent, and dates to probably 6-7 years ago, I am told. Comes with custom lucite base for display. Also, it comes with an original watercolor painting by wildlife artist and mineral collector Gamini Ratnavira, who fell in love with this one and had to paint it!
TUC09-111 COBALTIAN CALCITE - $7500 Aghbar Mine, Bou Azzer, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco CABINET, 10.0 x 7.8 x 4.6 cm
Much great material has come from this mine recently, including a new cache of intense, saturated pink cobalt-rich calcite specimens. I love the stuff and bought a lot of it, but one piece really stood out to me amidst all i have seen (including at Tucson). This piece, which I actually bought from a dealer during setup at the Munich show, and only just got back at Tucson trimmed and cleaned, is for my taste the best example I know of in this size range combined with overall quality. It is a double-ended stalactitic growth, perched on a stalk of calcite below. Although contacted in back, it is complete and absolutely pristine on the front, sides, and top. The display value in a case, for sheer color alone, is stunning. But really, at the end of the day, so many of these new pieces are just flat plates, and so few have the kind of 3-dimensional relief which we have here, that I think it a highly special piece worthy of advanced collections. Comes with custom lucite base for display. There are few minerals you can buy, that are of high quality and pack so much color saturation punch in a case as this one.
TUC09-112 PLANCHEITE - $2450 (SOLD) Kambove Mine, Katanga, Dem. Rep. Congo ex. Marvin Rausch Collection CABINET, 10.9 x 7.2 x 6.9 cm
An exceptionally large and rich specimen of solid plancheite, forming veins and large globular clusters. I have not before seen such a good, rich specimen of this mineral for sale - although the mine is famous for it from the "old days." For the collector of weird copper species and African specimens, this is a beautiful, large, and rare display-sized specimen. ex. Marvin Rausch Collection
TUC09-113 HELIODOR - $4800 Medina, Minas Gerais, Brazil ex. Edward David Collection CABINET, 10.3 x 1.7 x 1.4 cm
A shocking, GOLDEN-hued heliodor of true yellow color - no orange or pale citrine-like color here. This is heliodor the way the name (from Helios, for sun), intended to describe a rock. The crystal is nearly pristine but for the slightest of nicks atop, complete all around, and doubly-terminated. It glows with intense color that really drowns out other heliodors from Brazil, at least. And the color is a more pure yellow than Russian heliodors. This is, in fact, among the best yellow hues for intensity and saturation that I have seen in a gem crystal species. An important piece from Brazil, ex. Edward David Collection
TUCQTZ09-07 QUARTZ included by HEDENBERGITE - $7500 Sinerechenskoe, near Dalnegorsk, Primorskiy Kray, Russia ex. Eric Asselborn Collection CABINET, 10 x 8 x 8 cm
Over about 13 years now, I have seen hundreds of specimens from this locality trickle in bits and spurts, from just after the Wall came down to the current days of more open exports from Russia. Usually, I am not impressed. Hedenbergite included quartz tends to be dull and matte-finished, with barely any color, from this locality. HOWEVER, this piece I love. 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, by a long shot. Not only are they lustrous and colorful, but they were aesthetic, dramatic, in the terms you would want for a quartz from any location. Most other specimens are just "locality pieces," something neat and different but not in and of themselves a worldclass quartz piece. This transcends fro mthe locality piece designation, to a higher quality level. It 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.
TUCQTZ09-01 QUARTZ with iron staining - $3250 Sils, Thusis, Domleschg, Grisons, Switzerland CABINET, 16 x 10 x 6 cm
A most unusual, very colorful quartz specimen which has not only display aesthetics but also locality value and provenance. It is a very large example of this rare style of quartz from Switzerland, considered a highly desirable part of any Alpine collection because they have so much color pizzazz, and are so unlike other Swiss quartz styles with which we are more familiar. The crystal is complete all around, a floater, with no points of attachment that is fully terminated on both ends. It is pristine save for a few tiny, insignificant dings. The color is unearthly, as if you took the iron and embedded it in layers to yield a rainbow of refracted colors - indeed, you SEE rainbows shimmering just under the surface on the main faces of the front. This is not citrine (where iron is part of the crystal structure unit cell), rather it is quartz with iron stain incorporated into the matrix but not part of the crystal structure. This specimen was purchased by Pete Bancroft in the 1950s or 1960s, he recalls. He sold it to a local quartz collector in San Diego area in the 1970s (Alice Walters), and there it remained until she sold her collection about 4 years ago. It then went into the most prominent collection of classic, cabinet-sized Swiss minerals in the US, that I know of: that of Karl Kempf in Arizona (a longtime mineral colelctor specializing in this region). This collection was sold off by Wayne Thompson last fall, and now the piece is back on the market. Original label in Bancroft's hand is included.
TUCQTZ09-02 QUARTZ var. CITRINE - $7500 (SOLD) Pederneira Mine, Minas Gerais, Brazil ex. Steve Smale Collection CABINET, 12 x 5 x 4 cm
This quartz crystal is like a natural cut jewel. The faces are so sharp and flawless, the edges so clean and razorlike, the internal clarity so limpid, it LOOKS cut. The quartz is doubly-terminated, with a bit of lepidolite and a spray of cleavelandite at the bottom tip to give it the look of attached matrix although really the whole piece is a floater with no attachment point. It is the single finest quality quartz crystal I have seen from the tourmaline-famed Pederneira Mine, citrine or not. And it IS citrine...having a distinct orange color when set against white background. The color is not intense, but its there. This specimen was in the collection of Pederneira mine partner Daniel Trinchillo, who sold it to Steve Smale several years ago. Steve collects fancy gem crystals of the highest perfection and quality - seldom a quartz! But this is on equartz that transcends, and holds its own vs. the fancier tourmalines and gem minerals of Brazil. I fear I have used too much hyperbole in writing but honestly, it is THAT good. The thing is mesmerizing.
TUCQTZ09-03 QUARTZ var. SMOKY - $6500 (SOLD) Lincoln County, New Mexico ex. Martin Zinn collection CABINET, 10 x 6 x 4.5 cm
This prospect is now a national park, and collecting is forbidden today - making it hard to obtain one for the new collector, to say the least. This is an older specimen from the collection of Marty Zinn, acquired long ago. It features an unusually well-balanced central crystal on matrix, with superb equant form in its dimensions. The crystal is totally gemmy, pristine, and incredibly sharply terminated. It has a sharp internal phantom, which is rare for this location. New Mexico smokies often are seen only in jumbly clusters, seldom with the overall quality and aesthetics of this particular specimen. Marty prided himself on his New Mexico suite, and I would say this is as good as any you could hope to own in this size range.
TUCQTZ09-05 QUARTZ included by Fuchsite - $6000 (SOLD) Chaprot valley, Chalt, Gilgit District, Northern Areas, Pakistan ex. Lindsay Greenbank Collection SMALL CABINET, 7 x 4 x 2.5 cm
Over the years I have seen perhaps less than 10 specimens from this now-famous pocket found in 1993, which produced strange quartzes of an unearthly green color. They initially were labelled 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. However I admit I am not aware of analysis on this fact, and it may be urban legend. 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. It was sold to Lindsay Greenbank, the well-known Manchester-area collector of Northern English minerals, who couldn't resist it when he saw it offered, and bought it for a small worldwide collection which was in his living room until recently when I bought this piece and a few others. So far as I know, then, it hasn't been on the market since found and it is the best example I personally know of for the find (from 1993). For the quartz collector, this is an ultimate oddity! and a colorful one...
TUCQTZ09-05 QUARTZ on Dolomite - $1800 (SOLD) Morro Velho Gold Mine, Nova Lima, Minas Gerais, Brazil SMALL CABINET, 9 x 7 x 4 cm
Tis ultragemmy 2.5 x 2.5 x 7-cm-long crystal has to be seen to be believed. It is so gemmy, clearn, clean and limpid that you look right through to the underlaying matrix and its almost hard to focus on the outer faces of the crystal itself in its midpoint, the eye is so drawn to look through it. Just a common quartz, but of truly top quality that is shocking. The piece is beautifully trimmed and so displays well on a natrual pedestal of dolomite crystals. I have not seen a piece like this, in overall aesthetics, from Brazil or anywhere.
TUCQTZ09-06 QUARTZ var. HERKIMER DIAMOND on Calcite - $12500 (SOLD) Ace of Diamonds Mine, Herkimer County, New York ex. Edward David Collection CABINET, 12 x 9 x 5 cm
Ed David had a huge suite of several dozen very fine Herkimer quartze specimens in his collection, assembled over 30 years of collecting. This was, to me, his prize Herkimer quartz specimen. I sold it when I bought his collection in 2005, and exchanged it back at the show, much to my surprise, after it had gone around the block from a collector to a dealer. It is a phenomenally gemmy crystal group on matrix , with calcite, acquired in 1998 from miner Nancy Koskie. The calcite association is highly unusual and takes the piece to a new level. The number of good Herk's I have seen on matrix other than gray rock, I can count on one hand. One should assume that any Herk cluster is repaired, this and others...usually they come apart in the pocket and lock-fit together with a careful repair. 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...if any of these were "off" the piece would be less noteworthy but as it stands, it is, to me, superlative. It is one of the finest Herkimer Quartz specimens I think a collector can possibly obtain, for overall quality - and not the most expensive, either. It is so much better in person, so much more full of life, I won't even try to convey it with the usual 3-5 photos. It is just something that needs be seen in person.
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