THE VAULT

A spectacular tree-like, thick and robust crystallized gold from this important modern-era find from a few years ago. The first golds were actually imported as lapidary and gem material, and now it is not possible to export specimens, or to mine new ones as the zone is under control of a large gold... Click For More Information

From old finds of the 1990s that really surprised the mineral world, these gorgeous elongated gold crystals perched on quartz plates have not been seen in ages. This is an old specimen that I handled in the late 1990s, and came back to me. It is one I always remembered for the simple elegance, as... Click For More Information

A stunning, 3-dimensional cluster of sky-blue Aquamarine crystals that represents one of the top-tier pieces in its size class, this was a signature exhibition specimen for decades in the Obodda collection as shown at the Tucson, Springfield, and Munich shows (and in a special 2011 museum exhibit... Click For More Information

A stately and commanding Tourmaline crystal adorned with contrasting bluish Albite and Laumontite from the Malkhan Pegmatite Field, and one of the special crystals to be noted and recovered in early efforts at the Sosedka pegmatite here (2012). This gorgeous deep cranberry colored Tourmaline is o... Click For More Information

This specimen is a nearly pristine, robust King Mine Elbaite Tourmaline crystal that was mined around the turn of the 1900s in the era when the jewelry dealer Tiffany's out of NYC was competing with the last Empress Dowager of China for the world's best supply of pink tourmaline rough material fo... Click For More Information

A large, and significant crystal for this very rare gemstone species, a neon pink-red Pezzottaite from the type locality in Madagascar. This is a superb, complete, tabular hexagonal Pezzottaite crystal with well-developed, broad, flat terminations modified around the edges by complex modification... Click For More Information

From the late 1970s, this is a very rare and desirable style of rhodochrosite we called "shields" in habit, that have never been found again since. The crystals feature a "flattish habit with a dominant pinacoid" according to the article in the 1978 issue of Mineralogical Record when the discover... Click For More Information

An exquisite gold of classic form from Eagle's Nest, but on second look you will see that it has a much more robust crystallization than usual, and the absolutely top luster possible from here. The crystals are thick and show space between the branches, whereas this material is often much more de... Click For More Information

Superb and substantial, doubly-terminated, hexagonal, prismatic Sapphire crystal from Sri Lanka. This classic, NATURAL (unheated) Sapphire crystal exhibits its characteristic steely-blue color. This 24g Sapphire crystal is an amazing two and one-quarter inches long and five-eighths of an inch at its... Click For More Information

An important and old 1800's-era Silver, from the King of silver mines. The curator of the Kongsberg Museum identified the mine for me, saying it was immediately obvious to him the mine and the time it came out. Few enough of such size are on the market, and not tied up in museums already after al... Click For More Information