Alpine Treasures 43
Krumltal, Rauris, Pinzgau, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 11.4 x 5.4 x 5.5 cm
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This excellent quartz from the Krumltal shines with a nice golden glow!
It's composed of two parallelly fused quartz crystals with some side-crystals at the base and residual matrix.
The special thing here, in addition to the fabulously good luster, is the distinct golden orange color, which comes from a fine iron oxide coating.
The piece is in near perfect condition. The underside is also re-crystallized and partly overgrown with orange limonite.
Breithorn, Grengiols, Wallis, Switzerland
Size: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.6 cm
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I love the straight forward aesthetics of this rutile specimen. A flat piece of sparkling silvery rock matrix has a ridge of cream-white calcites. Amidst these calcites is a single 1.3 cm long rutile crystal. It has bright luster, it's doubly terminated and completely flawless!
There is some orange iron oxide present all over the piece which one could clean away but which we left on purpose for the natural look it provides. A wonderful specimen with an excellent crystal and top aesthetics!
Schinschlucht, Graubünden, Switzerland
Size: 5.4 x 2.3 x 1.6 cm
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This quartz crystal strikes with an unusually distinctive chlorite phantom. While the lower half of the crystal as well as the backside are rough with chlorite and feldspar, the upper half is superbly transparent and lustrous and grants an unimpeded view of the vibrant inner life that shows layers upon layers of chlorite, which again and again was overgrown by quartz. A beautiful and unique crystal in best condition!
Hoher Sonnblick, Rauris, Pinzgau, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 11 x 6 x 4.2 cm
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Smoky quartz from the Austrian Alps is not exactly common, especially not when we are talking about intensive color. In addition to the excellent luster and transparency, the dark brown coloration is certainly the outstanding feature here! The crystal is also in the very best condition. There are some internal cracks near the top, but not the slightest damage. On the back, there is a kind of crystallized contact, but everything is perfect here as well. Some small secondary crystals, as well as some chlorite and adular near the base are also undamaged. A nice and very uncommen smoky quartz specimen from Hoher Sonnblick.
Fedenstock, Felli Valley, Reuss Valley, Uri, Switzerland
Size: 4.6 x 2.9 x 2.9 cm
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The quality of this iron rose is nothing short of spectacular! Not only is it incredibly well crystallized with lovely rosettes and a disctinctive outline, but it also shows best metallic luster on all sides and is completely undamaged!
This outstanding iron rose is set on a piece of rock matrix, covered in sparkling white albite. A stunning and utterly beautiful specimen that is more spatial than the picture would suggest. Have a look on our video for a better view!
Knorrkogel, Gschlöss Valley, East Tyrol, Austria
Size: 8 x 6.7 x 4.3 cm
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A rare and aesthetically appealing combination of prehnite on smoky quartz. The greenish prehnite covers large parts of the crystals backside like a blanket, visible only around the outlines, which makes for a unique aesthetics. The transparent and dark brown smoky quartz has great luster and is in perfect condition, with even the bottom being re-crystallized. Also the prehnite coating is surprisingly intact.
A rare combination from an uncommon locale in the Eastern Alps.
Knappenwand, Untersulzbachtal, Pinzgau, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 8.8 x 6.9 x 4.8 cm
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A nice landscape of epidote and byssolite with some apatites from the world famous Knappenwand. The epidotes are up to about 3.5 cm long and dominate the specimen's left half. Further to the right is greenish byssolite, which reminds of harsh Alpine grassland. At the bottom left sits a group of glassy, colourless apatites of the finest quality. All in all it's an enchanting piece in excellent condition. Occasionally broken epidotes can be seen, but the overall picture is intact and totally impressive!
Val Nalps, Vorderrhein, Tujetsch, Graubünden, Switzerland
Size: 6.8 x 4.5 x 3.2 cm
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It's brilliant like flowing water or a masterfully crafted jewel! It is a complete floater and there isn't the slightes abrasion anywhere. At one patch on the lower backside you see small chlorite inclusions, the rest is just highly transparent quartz with beautiful surface structure and spectacular luster!
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A brilliant colorless gwindel is accompanied by a perfect prismatic quartz and a couple of smaller side-crystals. Everything here is completely flawless and pristine, even the bottom is all crystallized! The quartz is super-transparent and highly lustrous. There is an internal crack in the middle but that doesn't reach the surface. A lovely high quality gwindel specimen of striking aesthetics!
Göschener Alp, Göschenen, Uri, Switzerland
Size: 12 x 8.6 x 4 cm
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If you are looking for a striking Swiss smoky quartz group than this one is an excellent choice!
It features a dominant main crystal that is all transparent, shiny and completely undamaged.
The crystal lies flat on a thin piece of granite matrix, which is studded with quartz and adular secondary crystals both on the front and on the back.
The entire piece is in excellent condition. Only the side crystal at the lower right is damaged at the tip.
Nice and distinctive aesthetics meets superb crystal quality!
Felbertal, Pinzgau, Salzburg, Austria
Size: 3 x 2.2 x 1.2 cm
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This is a vibrant and towering complex of black schorl. Very special abouth this piece are the intergrown titanite crystals at the base which not only strongly improves on the aesthetics but also is interesting from the mineralogical point of view.
The titanites are of superb quality, undamaged and have some chlorite on them.
Of course several of the fragile schorls are broken, which is probably unavoidable, but the overall picture is really nice and aesthetic!
Kristallwand, Frosnitztal, East Tyrol, Austria
Size: 10.4 x 5 x 3.9 cm
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It is a very nice combination of a single brown sphene crystal with adular on a crystallized feldspar/chlorite matrix. The sphen is highly lustrous, largely undamaged (apart from a tiny ding that is not visible from the front) and 1.8 cm long. Its brown color stands out very nicely against the white-gray background. At its side sits a group of adular crystals, completely undamaged and covered with glittering chlorite. Definitely a remarkable and nicely balanced piece that is naturally crystallized all around!