- JB17-1747
- Bastnasite
- Zagi Mountain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, NWFP, Pakistan
- Cabinet, 11.0 x 5.5 x 4.0 cm
Zagi Mountain has produced what many consider the world's finest crystallographic examples of the species, and on this sharp specimen it is easy to see why. The stark symmetry and form, luster, and intense color of the crystals on this piece make it world class level for the species, but it is the arrangement and overall aesthetics with the banded granite make it a world class collectible display specimen for a rare species that normally, if we are bluntly candid, is not often at the caliber to be displayed in a case with "sexier" minerals. This is actually one of the finest overall examples I have seen of these finds when you take all the qualities of the piece together, and is a stunning specimen in person. The gemmy crystals measure to 1.8 cm wide and 1.2 cm thick (on the largest). This came out through Wayne Thompson some years ago, and has been in a private collection since then. No repairs.
- JB16-1715
- Beryl var. Emerald
- Rist Mine, Hiddenite, Alexander Co., North Carolina, USA
- Large Cabinet, 16.0 x 4.5 x 3 cm
The North Carolina emerald mines are an important part of US gem lore, having been visited and worked by the great Tiffany's gemologist Kunz in the early 1900s. Intermittent production continued for 100 years, but pockets of good crystals have been an EXTREME rarity. At 281 grams and with no repairs, this complete-all-around crystal is one of the largest ever found at the location. We believe it to be, in fact, the second largest to the one in the Houston Museum, that was ever recovered (and that one is repaired several times while this is not). This specimen consists of one large, slightly etched, double-terminated crystal, perched on a crosswise smaller crystal at its base. The etching is due to solution effects in the pocket over geologic time, and is common for the locality.
- JB16-1715B
- Tanzanite with Prehnite on Calcite
- Block D, Merelani Hills, Arusha Region, Tanzania
- Large Cabinet, 18.0 x 15.0 x 11.0 cm
The photos tell the story here, but for a bit of context: Few large matrix tanzanites exist, particularly in this size. The single crystal is 17 cm tall and perched in calcite. It is an astonishing and rare example of tanzanite with unusual pseudocubic crystals of prehnite, just as a bonus to the huge impact of the intense blue tanzanite crystals themselves. No repairs or damage. Truly a "major national museum specimen," for the display impact, if ever there was one. The piece weighs 6.6 pounds.
- JB16-1724
- Gold
- Belshazzar Mine, Quartzburg District, Boise Co., Idaho, USA
- Cabinet, 10.0 x 7.2 x 6.0 cm
An important United States gold specimen: Gold from this small mine near Boise was found in this quality only once in a spectacular, small lucky find of around 2005 (with ametal detector on the old dumps). This specimen is one of the largest and finest known from the find, and was in the collection of the discoverer for some time before being sold to amajor collector of historic Americana. It masses 540 grams (17.36 troy ounces), putting it among the largest golds known from unusual USA locales, and among the top few specimens from this location. It is extremely aesthetic in that it is complete all around, 360 degrees, and made up entirely of delicate, filigreed "wires" which are actually gold crystals that get their elongated form from unusual spinel-law twinning. A small bit of quartz matrix is included at the bottom, but this is neglegible to the mass overall. Comes with custom lucite base.
- JB16-1722
- Scheelite with Aquamarine
- Red Pocket (2007), Mt Xuebaoding, Pingwu Co., Mianyang Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China
- Small Cabinet, 8.3 x 7.5 x 5.8 cm
This is an intensely colorful gem-tipped scheelite from the famous 2007 "RED POCKET, " with unusual and distinct red tones that are more saturated than the classical orange hue. This pocket had the best luster, overall, and when combined with the color they make for very dramatic specimens that outshine almost all others from other pockets, in a case. It is a balanced small cabinet piece, that has huge impact visually -the color can be seen from across the room! China is the world's best locality for scheelites, unarguably. The scheelites coming from this extremely remote mountain locality are orders of magnitude prettier and better than those from anywhere else. However, the locale is remote, hard to work, and subject to pressure to work with hand tools if at all because it is located next to the major Sichuan Province Wolong.
- JB16-1721
- Rhodochrosite on Tetrahedrite
- Corner Pocket, Sweet Home Mine, Mount Bross, Alma District, Park Co., Colorado, USA
- Cabinet, 13.0 x 12.0 x 5.0 cm
The Corner Pocket of the late 1990's remains one of the best single finds of Sweet Home rhodochrosite for a number of reasons: the large crystal size, cherry color, translucency, and the startling contrast on desirable black matrix of crystallized tetrahedrite. This specimen, which went into a major European collection back in around 2005, epitomizes the good qualities of that pocket. It features large sharp crystals to 4.5 cm, with excellent color and translucency. They are displayed about as dramatically as you can ask, on the dark jet black tetrahedrite, and with aesthetic spacing and individuality that was not often seen among many pieces that were more "jumbly." Remarkably, there are no repairs to the specimens at all, although there are a few very minor restoration spots on the periphery of some crystals to fill in dings (quite acceptable on specimens of such magnitude). Most people consider these red-on-black specimens from this mine to set the standard for degrees of fineness and comparison from pocket to pocket. Few can be had, particularly in this size range and nearly 20 years after they were found.
- JB16-1716
- Rhodochrosite
- N'chwaning II Mine, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
- Large Cabinet, 16.5 x 12.0 x 9.0 cm
Rhodochrosite found at these famous Kalahari Manganese Field mines in the late 1970s shocked the mineral world. Such specimens have never been seen again, from anywhere at any time. This would be considered a significant specimen from those days (circa 1979-1981), of the size and impact that only few specimens attained. It presents a dramatic horizon of crystals, all spraying out from dark manganese ore matrix. In person., the piece has a rich and vibrant cherry color that is hard to convey in photos. Some such specimens are too dark or too light, but this is exactly the perfect and best saturation for color impact.
- JB16-1719
- Wulfenite
- Rowley Mine, Maricopa Co., Arizona, USA
- Small Cabinet, 8.0 x 5.0 x 4.0 cm
This is a significant wulfenite for this classic US locale, now worked artisanally by a small team of hardworking collectors who had to fight off regulatory agencies of the US government trying to shut their operation down (ironically as a result, the mining is now a research extension of a major university geology department, which has resulted in discovery of a new species!). The Rowley has historically produced a great variety of wulfenite styles and colors, tending more towards small and red crystals. This significant, robust specimen has huge crystals that are not typical for the mine at this size, with unusually thick form and intense orange color without the usual hint of red. Many are "windowpanes" that you can see right through, and they are mostly about 1 cm in size although the big crystal in the middle-left is 2 cm tall! The well-trimmed matrix accents the crystals greatly, with a white periphery of rock. This specimen came from the collection of claim owner Keith Wentz, and would have been collected around 2012-2013.
- JB16-1718
- Tourmaline var. Indicolite on Quartz
- Pederneira Mine, Sao Jose da Safira, Doce valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Large Cabinet, 18.5 x 11.0 x 10.0 cm
From the mid-2000's heyday of mining here, this is an exceptionally elegant combination specimen featuring a 13-cm-long sword of tourmaline intergrown with and shooting out of a sharp quartz crystal. The tourmaline is like a gem pencil, totally clean and transparent with a wonderful blue color. The quartz is complete all around, except for a small conchoidal chip on one edge, and in fact you can display this piece from either side to equal effect - one side showcasing more of the quartz and the other showing more length to the gem tourmaline. A little bit of sparkly purple lepidolite adds accent to one side, as well. Most specimens of this style were rather jumbly, but this has a balance and aesthetic style that make it stand out. Furthermore, most such specimens had multiple repairs while this has only one single, quite acceptable, lock-fit repair to the tourmaline near the bottom.
- JB17-1853
- Fluorite with Quartz
- Dongposhan Mine, near Chenzhou, Hunan Province, China
- Cabinet, 14.5 x 7.7 x 6.5 cm
Chinese fluorite has run the range of colors and shapes, and I thought we had seen it all. In mid-2016, a small pocket was hit at this deep commercial tungsten ore mine, with some of the most lustrous, most richly colored, gem fluorite crystals we have yet seen, in beautiful harmony with quartz crystals. I was lucky enough to obtain a small group of stellar specimens at the top of the find, which all came from a single 3 x 3 foot section off one wall of the pocket after a blast. I actually was lucky enough to be in this large ore mine shortly after it was found, and see how far in and how difficult it is to get such things out. Nothing from later pockets approached this quality - believe me, I went to the mine to see myself, and have kept watch ever since. Being in this mine and seeing the conditions worked under to extract specimens is truly humbling!
- JB17-1904
- Silver with Acanthite
- Mildigkeit Gottes mine, Kongsberg, Buskerud, Norway
- Cabinet, 13.5 x 8.0 x 4.0 cm
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 all these years. A piece like this shows exactly why Kongsberg is the supreme ruler when it comes to large, thick, so-called ropes of silver (they are crystalline, by the way, and not amorphous at all). I have known of this fabulous specimen, like an upright snake in form, for over 20 years. Ed David originally owned it, having purchased it from English collector Richard Barstow's private collection before his untimely passing at a young age.
- JB16-1706
- Quartz (Scepter)
- Treasure Mountain Mine, Little Falls, Herkimer Co., New York, USA
- Cabinet, 12.0 x 8.7 x 6.8 cm
Quartz from Herkimer county has a special place in the hearts of many collectors, especially thos eof us who have been there and tried to collect it - it is really difficult! I know many people who only collect quartz from Herkimer or have suites of different styles from here, and among those collectors the rare scepters are highly desired. Usually, a good one would be an inch or so. This monster is 5 inches tall, complete, pristine, and complete all around! It is a major example of the style and location, and was long in two private collections since the day it was collected. It was first seen by the public as one of only about 20 pieces in the American treasures Exhibition at Tucson, 2008, where a photo records its presence among the best of the location that could be gathered for the exhibits that year of the top 40 localities in the USA.
- JB17-1898
- Herderite on Blue Topaz
- Xanda Mine, Virgem De Lapa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Small Cabinet, 7.5 x 6.0 x 4.5 cm
From the famous 1969 pocket of purple Hydroxylherderites (see Bancroft's famous book Gem & Crystal Treasures)... Herderite from the single amazing find of 1969 set the world standard, and these purple herderites are almost never seen for sale today as they remain in collections and museums which acquired them at the time. This remarkable floater specimen, complete all around, was in the original Ed David collection in the 1980s and 1990s, sold to Houston Museum in the mid 1990s, and then exchanged to collector Irv Brown in the early 2000s. It then resided in another collection until now, the well known gem crystals and aesthetic minerals suite of Dr. Matt Tannenbaum of Idaho Falls. For the first time since it was found, I had it sent to the lab for a proper cleaning, and a very minor bit of restoration in the corner tips (where there was a little bit of hoppering or etching, but no damage per se).
- JB17-1895
- Fluorite
- Yaogangxian Mine, Yizhang Co., Chenzhou Prefecture, Hunan Province, China
- Cabinet, 14.5 x 13.6 x 6.2 cm
This fluorite is not like others we have seen, and it features a stark zoning at the ends of the crystals that give them such a sharp form and separated look, that it simply is more impactful than any medium-colored purple fluorite normally has a right to be. In person, it looks more three-dimensional, and the color contrast really leaps out. Steve Smale was one of the first Western buyers in China, meeting sources at Shenzhen on day trips, while based in and teaching Math at the University of Hong Kong in the early to mid 1990s. It gave him a unique access, most of us would cry for at the time. He bought heavily as the mines produced, in the glory days of polymetallic deposits like this mine, Yaogangxian ("heavenly celestial mountain," filled with cemeteries on the slopes). As the years went by, he reduced the average size of his pieces and his taste to miniatures and small cabinets, mostly, while I started collectinf cabinet sized China specimens in the late 1990s.
- JB17-1892
- Tanzanite
- Block 4, Merelani Mines, Merelani Hills, Arusha, Tanzania
- Miniature, 4.1 x 2.6 x 1.6 cm
Tanzanite is briefly common on the market in crystals - but do not expect that to last forever, from this one-source deposit. And, not in this quality - the crystal is literally a gem, stunningly clean and transparent with only a few veils within, incredible luster and color, and a razor sharp and natural termination. At 32 grams, this is hardly the largest crystal, but for a miniature size and for something PERFECT from nature, it would be hard to find better. This is simply one of the finest in its size class I have seen in over 20 years of looking. It has a life to it, and a sparkle, that does not require backlighting as do most. The best modern specimens for color, luster, and sheer gemminess in crysatlline form, all seem to have come out of the Block 4 consolidated workings of the large company Tanzanite One, which is now over 1 kilometer deep in the earth.
- JB16-1698
- Aquamarine "The Prince of India"
- Karur, Tamilnadu, India
- Large Cabinet, 18.3 x 7.7 x 6.0 cm
An important Aquamarine from Southern India, found in the late 1990's in a single unique pocket (along with a second, larger but more crude crystal named "The Emperor)." This piece is the sharpest, gemmiest crystal of the pocket, at 1670 grams. The color stands out dramatically from all other Aquamarines and makes these the most important Aquamarine crystals ever found on the continent of Asia.
- JB17-1533
- Hematite and Quartz on Granite
- Cavradi gorge, Curnera Valley, Tujetsch, Vorderrhein Valley, Grischun, Switzerland
- Cabinet, 10.0 x 8.0 x 8.0 cm
Cavradi hematites are iconic in the mineral world, and not just only Swiss classics. Nothing else looks like these, from anywhere... These sharp hematites generally have the finest luster and sharpest form, but it is the association with clear gemmy quartzes that makes them rise to the top of collector desirability in Europe and overseas. This particular specimen has all of those attributes, and in a balanced specimen that is remarkably complete all around and without repairs (which are common in such specimens, due to the difficulty of reaching the pockets and extracting them!). The main crystal is a full 4 cm across, and is fat and well developed on all its edges, with no damage. It stands atop the matrix of granite like a sentinel, with smaller hematites cascading down the front, in association with the most gemmy and clean and sparkling quartz you can ask for.
- JB17-1856
- Fluorite (twinned) with Muscovite
- Nagar, Aliabad, Hunza Valley, Gilgit, NWFP, Pakistan
- Small Cabinet, 8.0 x 6.8 x 2.5 cm
Nagar fluorite twins are unique in all the world, at their best, for the sharpness and gemminess that they can give you. Normally, you see this rare twinning shape in green fluorites, and the result is a crystal that is shaped more like a hexagonal greenish beryl at first glance. Here, we have a spinel-twinned PINK FLUORITE, that at first glance looks like a thin gem morganite! These are 1 in 100 of the fluorite twins, so rare that I have seen only a few per year, if that - and nothing of this quality. The crystal is thin, about 1 cm, and totally transparent and gemmy. It is optical clarity!
- JB16-1717
- Topaz
- Betafo District, Vakinankaratra Region, Antananarivo Province, Madagascar
- Cabinet, 12.7 x 10.5 x 6.0 cm
This highly unusual topaz was recovered from a single pocket with two large crystals and a few smaller, in the end of 2014. It is a floater crystal, of intricate shape and complete all-around, 360 degrees. The aesthetics are quite unlike those of topaz from other localities, in general. Importantly, blue topaz is very rare from Madagascar and my first thought was that it might be irradiated to cause the special color. However, the inclusions of iron you can see faintly within prohibit the intense heat treatment process, and I also showed the piece to Dr. Federico Pezzotta (the expert on all gem crystals from Madagascar), who realized this was the one that "got away" in the market there, agreed that it was natural, and then sold me the second large example from this same pocket that I mentioned above.
- JB17-1854
- Calcite on Calcite
- Tonglushan Mine, Daye, Hubei Province, China
- Cabinet, 16.0 x 13.0 x 8.0 cm
A stunning "jewel" of a calcite! Chinese calcites have long since hit the quantity of fish in the ocean, to the point where I am jaded and seldom excited about new calcite finds there. I happened to be in China, not far from the town of Daye, when this new pocket was hit in early May of 2015. I bought as many as I could, of which this is one of the best, from the direct source dealer from that town on the closing day of my travel. The Tonglushan Mine is actually an ancient copper mine worked since 2700 BC for ore, but only in the last 10 years for specimens! Apparently, it has produced on and off pockets of malachite and calcite, but only sparsely and they seldom came to the Western markets.
- JB17-1851
- Apophyllite on Stilbite
- Momin Akhada well dig, Rahuri, Maharashtra State, India (2001)
- Cabinet, 17.5 x 9.0 x 9.0 cm
Out of all the finds of all minerals in all the world, when a collector says the words Disco Ball apophyllite, it can mean only one thing: one of under a few dozen of the great apophyllite specimens with complete spherical crystal clusters from one single find back in 2001. There is nothing else that comes close, no later find that compares, and nothing from any other locality. This piece, is one of the Ikons of an iconic pocket, not to lay it on too thickly. It was the finest complete ball on balanced matrix in its size, according to the Indian dealer who handled 90% or more of the pocket, and it is balanced and complete 360 degrees all around, without damage. It went immediately into the personal collection of Dr. Steve Smale, from whom I exchanged it some 15 years later.
- JB17-1852
- Beryl var. Aquamarine & Heliodor
- Nyat, Braldu Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan
- Small Cabinet, 8.2 x 5.0 x 4.9 cm
This unique specimen seems to be an aquamarine overgrowing a heliodor core, with interesting green feathery inclusions which I have no clue what we are looking at. Depending on lighting and background, it is either a really blue aqua or a neon blue aqua...in either case, no matter how you look at it, the color is truly phenomenal and special. The color changes a bit in various lights, and so the video here is a more accurate representation of luster and shape, than of color. At the time I first bought and sold it in Tucson 2005 I was told that it was a freak piece, mined alone only several months before the show. I have not seen another like it, since. It is completely crystallized around all sides.
- JB17-1789
- Rhodochrosite on Manganite (circa 1979 find)
- Hotazel Mine, Kuruman, Kalahari MN field, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
- Small Cabinet, 10.0 x 6.5 x 4.0 cm
Sparkly, Cherry-red rhodochrosites from the oldest finds here in the late 1970's are legendary to this day for their unique color saturation, sparkly luster, and overall impressive appearance. Note they were found before, and are MUCH more rare, than their cousins from the nearby N'Chwaning Mines. They have never been matched by any find of rhodochrosite from anywhere, including from 40 more years of mining in the Kalahari manganese fields. Although many more rhodochrosite specimens came out later, into the early 1980's, they were of different habit. This specimen is from the same pocket as the iconic "Snail" rhodochrosite that has been exhibited so widely over decades, in the Larson collection. It is approximately the same size, and has the same color and luster.
- JB17-1563
- Rhodochrosite, Tetrahedrite, Fluorite
- Tetrahedrite Stope, Sweet Home Mine, Mount Bross, Park Co., Colorado, USA
- Large Cabinet, 16.3 x 9.7 x 6.1 cm
The size and coverage of this rhodochrosite make it have huge impact in a case and you can see it from ACROSS THE ROOM. It is not just "red," but it is "cherry red, with luster" way beyond average in each of those important qualities, and with crystals to an inch. Specimens of this size, without damage or repairs, are few and far between on the market - even at the time they came out. This would date to the late 1990s heyday here. Today, each new collector or up and coming collector wants a major rhodochrosite, but generally the only truly fine quality specimens on the market are small. This is a beast, and just dominates a display case.
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