CH17-24
Fluorite
Huanggang Mines, Hexigten Banner, Inner Mongolia A.R. China
Cabinet, 14.0 x 10.3 x 6.9 cm
SOLD

Totally colorless fluorite is a rare thing in the world, and sharp octahedral crystals of totally colorless and transparent, gem fluorite is even more uncommon than cubic or other habits. This is a superb cluster of glassy and gemmy, colorless, octahedral crystals of fluorite to 7.2 cm in length. They are so clear and so sharp, they look carved. The absolutely lack of color is startling. You can see right through to the contact at the bottom where it grew against matrix because the crystals are so limpid that the remnants of that old quartz matrix can be seen at the base of the fluorites. An added bonus is the presence of two metallic, dark gray sphalerite crystals, to 1 cm in length, at the base of the specimen. The combination of clarity and sharp form is extremely hard for the camera to convey, and this is much better in person, and as dramatic to the eye in a mineral case as if you put in a pyramid-shaped ice cube amongst the more traditional crystals.This is from older finds now, probably 2012-2014. Specimens like this were few and far between, and have not come out in years.