SOLD
PHEN09-04
Phenakite
Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
Miniature, 4.0 x 2.1 x 1.7 cm
SOLD
At 24 grams, this elongated crystal is one of the finer-crystallized specimens recovered. It is a floater, complete all around and pristine! It was one of the cherry-picked, complete crystals among a few kilos of this material which showed up in Thailand at the cutting factories, in August of 2009 (several kilos in total, representing about half the find). Bill Larson, a gem and mineral dealer, who was there at the time on gem business and was shown the material, immediately realized their specimen value and was able to save half a dozen good pieces from the cutter. This crystal has a very 3-dimensional structure to it, and is more well-crystallized than any almost other I have seen in terms of having a recognizable c-axis and vertical orientation. It has real faces, and a very unusual rounded termination more like that of a heliodor (but with garnet surface patterning), than of any phenakite I have ever seen. It is a bizarre specimen, that is really quite unique from other gem crystals in its overall form and aspect, and STUNNING in person. It looks for all the world like a completely colorless spessartine garnet at first glance, with those complex striations and patterning prominent around the whole specimen. in person, this glows with brilliant light bouncing in and out of the crystal off all the myriad facets of the faces. It is absolutely colorless, a pure colorlessness that is startling in its utter lack of any impurity which adds some coloration to most minerals.