Carnelian - red Quartz nodule
stock #1047-JM-1645
Fassa, Val de Fassa, Trentino -Alto Adige
South Tyrol,
Italy
4.6 x 4.3 x 2.8 CM (miniature)
price: $360
new year 2021
A half nodule of bright red Quartz (crypto-crystaline variety Carnelian) from Fassa which is now in Italy (since 1919) but at the time this was found was in Austria. From the Phil Scalisi collection and also was in the John Marshall collection Translucent to transparent, an excellent example of an old European Carnelian gem that is just not often seen for sale.
Azurite on Malachite
stock #AX-3-045
Milpillas Mine, Cuitaca, Municipio de Santa Cruz
Sonora,
Mexico
3.7 x 2.6 x 1.6 CM (small miniature/ large thumbnail (toenail))
price: $1350
new year 2021
From the great finds at Milpillas, this is a very fine small miniature in perfect condition with excellent esthetics. The Azurite crystals stand up from the contrasting green Malachite which covers a thin shard of matrix. These are translucent on the edges with a brilliant blue. A few tiny spots on the Azurites show Malachite alterations and the overall luster is very bright. With a close exam or under magnification the crystals are seen as compound prisms made from aligned crystals in an almost rosette structure. This piece is more impressive in person, and has a lot of display impact for its size. When Milpillas was active it produced lots of good Azurite and also a few really great pieces. Finding an above average specimen with rich color contrast in perfect condition (and at a fair price) was never easy. This is that sort of piece.
Quartz - classic locale
stock #15.1-732
Vizille, Grenoble, Isere
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes,
France
9.4 x 7.3 x 7.7 CM (cabinet)
price: $230
new year 2021
The Quartz localities clustered near Grenoble in Isere, France were sources of some of the most classic and special Quartz specimens in the world. This piece shows well the forms of the slender clear Quartz prisms perched on an altered Siderite "Limonite" matrix. In exceptional undamaged condition, this is from the Dr. Warren Johansson collection, he purchased this in 1984. A nice sized cabinet specimen that shows well the clarity and luster that these are famed for at a reasonable cost for one of these European classics.
SOLD Quartz included by Epidote
stock #SOLD 20.1-880
Cisneros, Mun. de Buenaventura
Valle del Cauca,
Colombia
4.1 x 3.3 x 2.1 (miniature)
price: $150
new year 2021
A light greenish Quartz that is slightly milky is surrounded by and included with slender Epidote crystals. From a remote locality in the Gold mining areas of the Cauca Valley of Colombia, these greenish Quartz and Epidote have trickled out for several years, never many pieces and usually badly damaged. This is from a small lot we obtained in Colombia in 2018 and is far better than usual. The front or display side offers a large window into the Quartz where the Epidote are like a forest or garden scene. The backside has a clean geometric contact and the condition is overall very good, strong magnification does show some very tiny bruises that are not visible by naked eye, for one of these remarkable crystals this as close to perfect as we have seen. A very different and attractive small Quartz.
Dolomite cast with Calcite
stock #16.1-308
Tsumeb
Otjikoto Region,
Namibia
4.3 x 3.4 x 2.2 CM (miniature)
price: $120
new year 2021
One of the many odd but amazing things found over the years in Tsumeb were hollow Dolomite casts. These are replacements or encrustations of earlier minerals which have since disappeared. Sometimes the casts have then been overgrown with other minerals as well. The forms are quite diverse and entire collections have been made of the many shapes, colors and associations. This miniature cast is a pale green color and is overgrown with gem clear, colorless Calcite rhombs. The walls are typically thin and the whole specimen is a delicate hollow structure. Looks great from any angle, an attractive example of a mineral oddity.
Epidote
stock #14.1-380
Capelinha
Minas Gerais,
Brazil
4.6 x 3.5 x 1.4 CM (miniature)
price: $300
new year 2021
A pair of fine, sharp and lustrous crystals of Epidote from Capelinha in Brazil. Most of the Epidote we see from Brazil is a more fibrous habit, this prismatic specimen is the best formed I have ever seen. Textbook perfect crystals with well-defined terminations and on the backside a few clusters of small Quartz crystals. Overall in excellent condition as seen, the faces are either well-striated or perfectly flat, mirror-like and brilliantly lustrous. The sharpness and quality of this could easily be confused with a fine Alaskan Epidote.
Fluorite on Schorl
stock #AX-14-159
Erongo Mountain, Karibib
Erongo Region,
Namibia
6.8 x 5.3 x 4.6 CM (cabinet)
price: $790
new year 2021
Colorful zoned Fluorite crystals are perched on a jumble of lustrous Schorl crystals from Erongo. Close exam of the Fluorites shows they are also included by dark tourmalines some of which have areas of transparency. The Fluorites have some spots of deep purple set in a light blue background. These crystals are somewhat etched and show some spinel twinning as well. The Schorl crystals are in two habits some with the fibrous habit faces and others with prismatic forms. All are quite lustrous and with two different termination types. Overall very esthetic and striking specimen from a find in 2018. The pegmatites of Erongo have given up some remarkable pockets over the years many of which were unique having unusual habits and forms not seen in any other. We have not seen any more recent finds of this style.
Calcite with Fluorite
stock #20.1-256-(1080)
Denton Mine, Harris Creek Sub District, Hardin County
Illinois,
United States
6.8 x 4.9 x 3.8 (cabinet)
price: $330
new year 2021
A southern Illinois classic, a mass of transparent, gemmy Calcite crystals are the sparkling background to some small purple to blue Fluorites. The bright luster of these Calcites are hard to appreciate in photos but in person the visual impact is strong. This choice Denton Mine specimen is from the collection of Les Hitchings which he obtained in 1992, from the last period of mining there which produced some exceptional Calcites.
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