CHFLO-11
Fluorite on Dolomite
Shangbao, Hunan Province, China
Cabinet, 11.4 x 8.3 x 8.1 cm
SOLD
This dramatic piece features a pristine, 3.8-cm-across fluorite with intense green-purple zoning. IT IS THE MOST INTENSELY COLORED CRYSTAL In THIS LOT, AND I DID BUY A BIG CHUNK OF THE POCKET...No subtle phantom here! The crystal is one of the best and biggest of this style, and is really impactful. It is pristine, complete, and totally translucent. The dolomite next to it is 6 cm. It is perched on BOTH quartz and porcelain-like dolomite, making for a rgeat contrast. I got this directly from a foreign mineral dealer's private collection, and he from the mines...it has been trimmed with a saw on the backside to reduce it to a good aesthetic display, though saw marks remain on the rear and bottom (irelevant from the front display). These can be manually worked down, if desired, at some cost (and so I am offering it more cheaply first than I would afterwards, if this matters). All the quartz is good except for a few small crystals at the base of the specimen. This is from a new pocket found at the end of 2008, and quietly trickled into Tucson in 2009. It should be remembered as a very distinct style, something different from any we have seen before for the mine or a fluorite combination. NOTE: these exhibit the photographic property of metamerism. They change colors from halogen and professional bulbs (more blue) to indoor fluorescent lighting and even natural sunlight (more green). Examples from both are shown here. The change is startling if you do not expect it, and quite pronounced in the right lighting.