Diopside, Large single crystal
stock #8.12-CAN-971
Orford Nickel Mine, Brompton Lake, Sherbrooke
Quebec,
Canada
7 x 2 x 1 CM (cabinet)
price: $300
A large terminated Diopside with greenish to lemon color, good translucency and undamaged. Small areas are gemmy, this is one of the nicest of these I have seen. Probably collected well over 40 years ago, there are several old labels to go with it including Steve Chamberlain and Ken Canning.
HOLD Rhodochrosite on Quartz
stock #HOLD 8.1-047
Wudong mine, Liubao, Cangwu Co. Wuzoh
Guanxi,
China
10.9 x 8 CM (cabinet)
price: $1800
An esthetic Rhodochrosite from anyplace, and quite fantastic for China. I selected this one in 2007 at the mine, it was in the top 6 pieces that year. Despite the larger finds in 2008 this is still a very fine example with well defined crystals and proportions. It really looks like a good Sweet Home piece. This plate of crystalized quartz is studded with many sharp rhombs to 1.6 CM. Quite pristine with some minimal edge damage. The Rhodos are translucent to transparent, it is possible to see inside them and note the internal stress lines on the cleavage planes. In Tuscon this year we saw a near twin of this piece from Colorado. This one is over $6,000. cheaper!
Quartz (red accicular)
stock #8.1-409
2nd Sovietsky mine,Dalngorsk, Primorsky Kray
Far Eastern Region,
Russia
10.8 x 6.1 CM (cabinet)
price: $475
This is technically called red quartz although this example is much more a peach- orange color. From the famous finds several years ago at Dalngorsk, these are now very rare especially when this large, esthetic, and clean. Very sculptural, displays well from several angles. Some of the crystal sprays (that reach 6 CM) are doubly terminated, others have a contact on one end but typically on the underside so they are not noticeable from the viewing angles. The color is very attractive, but not strong red or deep orange so the price is not 3-5K.
An excellent value for one of these!
SOLD Red Quartz
stock #SOLD 8.1-407
2nd Sovietsky mine,Dalngorsk, Primorsky Kray
Far Eastern Region,
Russia
13.5 X 9 CM (cabinet)
price: $2150
Exceptional, large and delicate, an impressive cabinet of super desirable Russian red Quartz. From the late 90's and ending by 2001, these accicular quartz were never very common in good quality. None have been found for the past 7 years, This quartz is immediatly distinctive, there is nothing like it from anyplace else and this is an extremely fine example. Individual sprays exceed 6 cm and there is minimal damage (you can only find some but only after really seaching), All the main areas are pristine, with top esthetics for one of these. The photos give a good idea of the sharpness and quality. The color is a deep peach to red and the white is a second generation Quartz. Sits on its own and looks great from many angles.
Galena- Exceptional cube with Chalcopyrite
stock #8 FE-705
Amax Buick Mine, Level 5, Bixby, Viburnum Trend, Iron Co
Missouri,
United States
16 x 10 CM (cabinet)
price: $2000
A classic and a killer, this is simply a superb USA specimen. A huge (over 10 CM) sharp steel lustre galena sits at a pleasing angle on matrix studdend with golden chalcopyrite crystals for a nice color contrast. Very fine condition, the back side shows some contacting but display faces of the galena are clean. Magnification reveals only minor scuffings this is as close to perfection as a crystal this size can be. Looks great from many angles. Top US Galenas have become quite rare and expensive. These are classics and will certainly appreciate well.
With so much Chinese Stibnite on the market it is hard to a fine piece that really stands out and yet is not astronomically priced. This one has fantastic form, esthetics, condition and quality. It is from Xikuangshan and it is NOT typical of that very productive locality. These crystals reach 9.5 CM with top gunmetal steel color and mirror lustre. Well distributed on a solid matrix this has minimal damage and all the main crystals are complete.
SOLDPeridot (Forsterite)
stock #SOLD 8 FE-698
St John's Island, (Zagbargad), Red Sea
,
Egypt
2.3 x 1.6 CM (thumbnail)
price: $0
The rarest and most desirable crystalized Forsterite is from this ancient locality on the Red Sea of Egypt. The style is distinctly different from the Pakistani finds of the 1990's This is the only piece I have ever had for sale and is is outstanding for this location, even better than the piece in Harvard's Peabody Museum collection. The locality was mined as far back as 1500BC it has not produced crystals of any size in modern times, so specimens of this quality are very old and rarely available. Some edge conchoidal fractures can be seen, but the termination and form are excellent - far sharper than any others I have seen. The color is top apple green and it is all clear gem.
SOLD Rhodochrosite (elongated prismatic)
stock #SOLD 8.DK-011
Pachapaqui District, Bolognesi Province
Ancash Department,
Peru
3.9 x 3 x 2 CM (small miniature/ large thumbnail (toenail))
price: $0
This style of Rhodochrosite is exceptionally rare, it's an extreme elongation of the "C" axis of rhombs, and totally unlike the scalenehedral or simple rhombohedral that are typical crystals. I am aware of only two finds of this type worldwide and the most recent (Peruvian) was over 20 years ago. This piece shows many prisms with longest 1.4 CM in size, and the main crystals are all in excellent shape. With 10x magnification a few tiny crystals are found with micro damage, but nothing is eye visible to distract. It could be trimmed to a killer thumbnail is desired. The prisms are gem clear, lusterous and sharp while the black maganese oxides on the matrix make an excellent contrast. For any Rhodochrosite suite this would be a very fine and special addition.
