The old Jeffrey Asbestos Mine is one of the, if not perhaps the most famous, localities for world class garnet group specimens. These crystals are unique, sparkling, and immediately recognizable to any collector. These came generally out in the 1970s and into early 1980s in quality like this, and then diminished over time until the closure of the mine (this piece was from the 1972 pocket of giant crystals, and obtained by Ernie in 1975 per his card). This cluster of glassy and gemmy, light orange colored grossular specimen, is significant for the size and this size corresponds with the immediate visual impact of a huge garnet crystal....highlighted by a crystal which measures 1.8 cm across, intergrown with another to make it look like a single 1-inch crystal! The overall impact of this piece in a thumbnail collection display simply stomps on any other Jeffrey Mine garnet for size and color burst...it is the gorilla of Jeffrey Mine garnet thumbnails. An extra 5-7 mm bigger than usual might not seem like much from text, but it translates into stronger color and saturation, and the depth of this huge garnet draws in the eye so immediately. To us, this was one of the top 5 items in the entire 1800 pieces of the thumbnail collection of Shields Flynn, built over 40 years and more of careful selection. It is nearly perfect: complete and pristine on display face, contacted on back with a tiny bit of damage in the rear that is not seen as displayed. Shields prided himself on a fine and carefully selected suite of East Coast material, and was good friends with those who collected these, including the late Ernie Schlichter. Ernie had a particularly strong Jeffrey suite, of which this was a major specimen, which passed to Shields after Ernie passed away (along with a selected 200 piece core of Ernie's own thumbnail suite). This has not seen another owner in probably 40 years. While there are more elegant specimens, or smaller crystals with more 360 degree viewing, this is a strong candidate for most impactful gem species in a thumbnail case, for the size and color, and just fills space.