From an old classics collection built by the late Hubert de Monmonier, that was donated to and formerly in the University of Arizona collection, comes this exemplary specimen of a rare and large Tessin-style Quartz crystal. It is a tall, six inch, dramatic, single crystal with several "negative" crystals at the interior (quartz crystal casts frozen within the larger quartz, and clearly visible!). The luster on the front face is incredible, like polished glass. It is gorgeous and gemmy - good on its own merits, style points aside. Tessin Quartz, showing this classic sharp tapering habit, is dominantly from finds in the high Swiss Alps and is extremely rare in large crystals. The formation of Tessin type crystals is rather unusual in nature and due to specific conditions in the pocket as the crystals form, that are not fully understood but likely have to do with both temperature and pressure at the time of formation. Certainly, the best I have seen in my life have all come from the Ticino (Tessin) area of Switzerland, as does this. A very good reference website for explaining the unique rarity of Tessin style quartz crystals is: http://www.quartzpage.de/crs_habits.html. This is from the famous DeMonmonier collection acquired by UA in 2007, later released as a duplicate not on display. The location was later confirmed by experienced strahlers we know, and is also featured in the Gotthard issue of LapisExtra. Aside from the shape and beauty, the floating casts of frozen quartz crystals within are simply mesmerizing bonus details!