Grossular on Diopside
stock #22.1-342
VAG Mine, Lowell & Eden
Vermont,
United States
3.3 x 3.1 x 2.4 CM (small miniature/ large thumbnail (toenail))
price: $850
Vivid, bright red Garnets are clustered on contrasting dark green Diopside crystals. The famed location of "Eden Mills" (actually Lowell and Eden in Vermont) is the site of the VAG Mine that long ago produced some of the very best Grossular Garnets ever found in the USA. The mine has been closed for decades and certainly will never reopen. Such specimens are now rare and often incredibly expensive if with any sort of decent quality. This is a very nice piece, perfect except for some very tiny rough edge spots on some minor crystals best seen by loupe. By naked eye it seems fully perfect. Bright luster and color, the Garnets have considerable gem transparent areas.
A killer of Piedmont style Garnet on Clinochlore. Perfect, well-formed and well-exposed Grossular crystals up to 1.2 CM. contrast with blue green matrix. Fine condition Italian specimens with such large size crystals from the high elevation Rodingite zones are prized by collectors the world over. These rank as some of the world’s best for the specie. This piece has several Garnets in an epitaxial cluster but also has perfectly isolated crystals as well. The bright luster makes this hard to photograph but in person it is very impressive and eye-catching.
Grossular - Gem crystals on Pectolite
stock #AX-32-066
Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos (now Val-des-Sources, Estrie,
Quebec,
Canada
4.3 x 2.5 x 2.3 CM (miniature)
price: $3300
Over several decades many fine Grossular have come from the Jeffrey Mine, but very few are truly gem crystals. This is an exceptionally fine and rare specimen with outstanding clarity, especially vivid color and top luster. The matrix is also much less common, a mass of Pectolite crystals that adds a contrast in texture and color. The Garnets are clear enough to see through to the matrix below. We have worked with many fine Jeffrey Garnets but very few of this quality ever. This is not at all typical of the deposit and is better in person as well. In excellent condition as seen with only some small internal cleaves not visible from most angles. Those would be fully invisible if this was not such a gem clear specimen. A excellent Garnet from anyplace and very fine for the Jeffrey Mine.
Grossular - Raspberry Garnet, older find
stock #23.1-728
Sierra de la Cruz, Municipio de Sierra Mojada
Coahuila,
Mexico
1.7 x 1.3 x 1 CM (thumbnail)
price: $380
Pre Tucson
A small thumbnail with big color, a cluster of the Raspberry Garnets from Sierra de las Cruces (Coahuila, Mexico). This is from the Larry White collection, it has almost no matrix and is just bright red Garnets with very nice luster and in very good condition. Larry obtained this in 2000 from NE Geological Supply at the Springfield show. This would have been the earlier find of this type of more vivid Garnets which were very exciting at that show. Larry had excellent taste and though small this is a choice thumbnail!
A fine Italian Garnet specimen with two generations of Grossular on sharp Clinochlore crystals. The smaller Grossular are gemmy red and very bright in color. The larger Garnets are a deeper orange to brown color and also very lustrous. In very good condition overall, there are some broken areas but only on the outer perimeter. Classic and pretty.
A killer thumbnail of classic rich red garnet contrasting with white Calcite. The source is well-known as Eden Mills (Vermont USA), but the true location is Lowell and Eden Mills. This classic locality had some super intense color Garnets which were usually seen on a dark green diopside matrix. However in the mine most fine Garnets were encased in Calcite which was usually removed with acid to expose the Garnets better. This is an unusual example that has not been acid etched and has a sharp gem Grossular peeking out as if in a blanket of snow. Close exam shows a few tiny Diopside crystals poking out as well. In outstanding condition, despite the small size the display impact is exceptional. It would be easy to further expose the Garnet but to my taste it is great as is. This mine has been closed for decades and these fine Grossular are prized worldwide.
Grossular - 'raspberry' Garnet
stock #10.1-272
Sierra de la Cruz, Municipio de Sierra Mojada
Coahuila,
Mexico
8.7 x 5.3 x 4.7 CM (cabinet)
price: $480
Spring 23
A large and colorful raspberry Garnet from the specimen mining project of Dennis Beals about 12 years ago. This has a dense cluster of Grossular crystals up to 1.4 CM, ranging in color from bright raspberry to a darker red-purple hue. Excellent luster on most crystals. There is some crystals on the outer edges that are broken and show that the core is quite dark to black inside with the outer skin being the red-purple color. This piece has the Garnets very well-exposed and it is a choice example of the find. The area here in Coahuila was a source of pink and greenish garnets as well as brown Vesuvianites known since the 1950 era. For decades the location was incorrectly given as Lago Jaco, which was deliberate misleading to keep the source private. The early finds were usually rather pale but these later Garnets are far more vibrant.
Grossular - gem crystals on matrix
stock #19.1-590
Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos (now Val-des-Sources, Estrie,
Quebec,
Canada
5.6 x 5.3 x 2.9 CM (cabinet)
price: $1900
Spring 23
Excellent gem clear Garnet crystals on contrasting matrix from the famed Jeffrey Mine. One of the most desirable (and rare) sorts of Grossular are the isolated crystals on dark matrix. These crystals are unusually well-isolated, the two that do touch are just barely in contact. Usually the crystals are tightly clustered and incomplete. The crystals themselves have the well-defined striations and lustrous faces that have made these world class Garnets and highly prized. Ex Martell collection (old collection number is painted on the underside). It is very unusual too that some Jeffrey Garnets are known to be fluorescent, usually just a few percent of the pink or green colors react. This piece however is also Fluorescent, a pink-red color which is very rare in the orange colored Garnets from Jeffrey or from anyplace in the world. Choice.
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