International Minerals 55
Hashupi Mine, Shigar Valley, Skardu, Pakistan
Size: 5.5 x 4.5 x 3.9 cm
Watch Video
|
|
|
The exact locale where this fascinating quartz was found is the Hashupi mine in the high altitude Alpine type clefts of Pakistan. This floater specimen has a total size of 5.5 cm and shows beautiful glassy and highly lustrous quality. It is a cluster of several interlocked crystals, all in excellent condition with only very minimal wear. It’s a stunning piece in person, a real jewel of best quality and sweeping shape!
Pyingyi Taung, Male, Singu Township, Pyin-Oo-Lwin District, Mandalay Division, Burma (Myanmar)
Size: 5 x 4.4 x 1.8 cm
Watch Video
|
||
This lovely rubellite is from a recent find in Pyingyi Taung and shows brilliant crystal quality and strong color! Several sparkling rubellites are set on a contrasting dark matrix, together with white quartz crytals. The tourmalines are gemmy, intensively red and show complex terminations. Nice composition and stunning crystal quality make this piece attractive
Tses Baryte Prospect, Brukkaros Complex, Berseba Townlands Farm 426, ll Karas Region, Namibia
Size: 8.5 x 4.7 x 4.2 cm
Watch Video
|
||
We got this unusual baryte specimen out of a collection in Namibia. Among a group of very nice baryte crystals this is the only one that's actually on matrix. A single close to 5 cm long crystal is perched on a matrix that is a mix of crystallized baryte (short crystals that are broken but re-crystallized) and rock matrix. If you turn the piece upside down you can see that the barytes are re-crystallized even there. This specimen must have come out of the earth just like it is. The main crystal itself is exceptionally gemmy, lustrous, well defined and in flawless condition right up to the pyramidal termination.
Paprok, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan
Size: 4.6 x 1.7 x 1.7 cm
Watch Video
|
||
This single tourmaline crystal impresses with its top-notch quality. It's gemmy, highly lustrous, color-intensive, and displays an exceptionally complex termination. The color, as you can see in the picture and video, is mostly green with a pink zone at the tip and at the very base. However, when viewing the piece in natural light, the green appears much more nuanced. Suddenly, the color transitions from an emerald green center to a bluish turquoise, which is truly extraordinarily beautiful to behold.
Mundo Nuevo Mine, Mundo Nuevo, Huamachuco, Sanchez Carrion, La Libertad, Peru
Size: 6.1 x 4.5 x 3.5 cm
Watch Video
|
||
I find this tetrahedrite from the Muno Nuevo mine in Peru impressively beautiful. Most specimens of this type I've seen so far have had twisted and aesthetically unappealing crystals. Here, a single, sharp-edged, and completely undamaged crystal is prominently displayed on a beautifully crystallized matrix. Certainly one of the most striking pieces I know! The main crystal measures exactly 3 cm in its longest dimension. The matrix is a mix of white quartz, golden shiny pyrite, and smaller tetrahedrite crystals.
Kattumunnur Mine, Karur District, Tamil Nadu, India
Size: 9.7 x 7.9 x 5.9 cm
Watch Video
|
||
The Kattumunnur Mine has made a name for itself in recent years as a source of beautiful amethysts.
One specimen that stands out is this 9,7 cm large cluster of spectacular brilliance!
It is a vibrant spray of hundreds of crystals that display superb luster and clarity and intensive purple color.
The overall condition here is just excellent. When looking hard and in detail, I can see two broken crystals but that’s really difficult to discern due to the overwhelming richness of this specimen.
It is a real marvel in person that strikes with intensive color and vibrant
|
||
This calcite is a historic and exceptionally beautiful piece from Egremont in Cumberland.
Characteristic for the locale this specimen shows brilliant scalenohedral calcites up to 2.5 cm with a light pinkinsh tinge.
It has an elegant and classy design featuring a number of super sharp, lustrous and transparent calcites on an iron-rich matrix.
The condition is excellent. Most crystals are intact and completely undamaged.
The piece is very old and comes with a total of three labels. The labels mention the year 1966, close to 60 years ago.
The most recent label is from one Peter Pichler who was an Architect from Graz (Austria) who moved to Munich around 25 years ago.
Around that time he built his collection but stopped collecting soon after that. Still, he held on to his collection and only sold it recently.
Ganesh Himal, Dhading, Bagmati Zone, Nepal
Size: 10.5 x 6 x 6.2 cm
Watch Video
|
||
We were recently able to buy an excellent lot of quartz specimens from the Ganesh Himal range. I particularly like this specimen as it has such a vibrant aesthetic. It features a distinctive main crystal, set on a mix of smaller quartz crystals and some rock matrix, intergrown with sparkling green chlorite. Especially the main crystal impesses with its water-clear quality, the sharp and flawless shape and the top-notch luster! But also the side-crystals are in great condition with hardly any damage to find.
Killa Saifullah District, Balochistan, Pakistan
Size: 8.4 x 6.7 x 2.2 cm
Watch Video
|
|
|
This sculpturesque brucite is absolutely magnificent. It is grown on or around some small pieces of rock matrix but is basically a floater and in near flawless condition. The color is exceptionally intensive lemon yellow that is much stronger than on most specimens that come out of the mines in Killa Saifullah. Also the luster is just wonderful all around and as good as it gets. A fascinating specimen of fresh juicy color!
Spitzkopje, Karibib District, Erongo Region, Namibia
Size: 9.8 x 8.2 x 5 cm
Watch Video
|
||
A strikingly aesthetic combination of topaz on quartz and feldspar. It has a very nice cabinet size of 9.8 cm with a brilliant 6.5 cm main topaz. The whole piece has amazing composition and fantastic crystal quality all over! We have seen others from the same locale but this one is something special indeed. The transparent, highly lustrous and completely flawless main topaz is set on a cluster of interlocked smoky quartz and orthoclase crystals with some glistening mica. Also these side crystals are well developed and in very good condition. As you can see on the picture and in the video as well it has that natural charm that is characteristic for Namibian minerals. Still, the quality and aesthetics are unquestionable and worthy of any collection of modern style mineral specimens!
Tses Baryte Prospect, Brukkaros Complex, Berseba Townlands Farm 426, ll Karas Region, Namibia
Size: 8 x 1.6 x 1.4 cm
Watch Video
|
||
We got this unusual baryte specimen out of a collection in Namibia, which included some very beautiful barite specimens from the Tses Barite Prospect. Barite from this locality is extremely difficult to find, so we were glad to get a few beautiful specimens here! A particularly beautiful piece is this 8 cm long crystal. Typical of this locality, it shows a wonderful honey-yellow color, partially mottled with darker spots, which makes it even more lively. The crystal is of very good quality with partially transparent areas. Even in weak light, the piece glows from bottom to top with its pleasantly warm color. Upon closer inspection, I can find no damage at all. The complex termination is complex and beautifully structured down to the smallest detail.
Katlang, Mardan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Size: 4.3 x 3.9 x 4 cm
Watch Video
|
||
This topaz specimen from Katlang offers great aesthetics and striking crystal quality with that famous distinctive pink color.
I will say it right away: the crystal is damaged at the left side which is at least partly visible from the front.
That being said, this is a wonderful specimen if you can live with this imperfection.
The topaz is crystal clear, sharp and highly lustrous. And the color is what makes these specimens from Katlang so famous!
The matrix is a natural, blocky feldspar, very attractive in person.