Triphane (Spodumene) Large Gem crystal
stock #7.AE-305
Khauraz
Laghman Province,
Afghanistan
33.8CM X 4.6CM X 2.6 CM Thick (cabinet /museum)
price: $4500
A HUGE and impressive monster that is doubly terminated, top gem grade yellow triphane. Sharp, glassy luster and damage-free with only some tiny bits of matrix adhering to the main prism which is over a foot long! One end has the classic hackley/fibrous termination while the other shows a staggered pair of prismatic tips with some fine growth hillocks. This crystal like all fine gem Spodumene is highly dichroic and shows an excellent orange-pink transition on the C axis. The piece has been in a private collection for several years and the color (unlike many) is quite stable. Good Triphane has never been plentiful. This one seems to have been from the major find of 99-2000 and I have not seen much new material available over the past few years, and none as large and fine as this. I consider this a very fine display piece that is both reasonably priced and will likely have outstanding investment value.