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January 25, 2003 - Just Beautiful Minerals from "That Part of the World" Once again we owe a debt of gratitude to Dudley Blauwet, for risking life and limb to traverse what is perhaps the most dangerous part of the world (at least for an American) in search of wonderful mineral specimens. This time, the quantity of minerals Dudley brought back was smaller, but the quality was, amazingly, even better than his usual high standard. Here you'll see a selection of exceptional specimens from that part of the world we may soon be kissing goodbye for a while. If you are like me, you're including a peaceful resolution to the troubles in Iraq in your prayers at night, but worrying more every day about the alternative. I hope you will find something here that you can provide a good home for, and let's all hope this isn't the last we'll see from the Hilmalayas for the forseeable future. Enjoy!
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Sodalite var. Hackmanite Absolutely the sharpest hackmanite I've ever seen. The color is great, too: light lavendar surrounding a vibrant pink core. The crystal faces on this dodecahedron are textbook clean and sharp, the crystal has good lustre and geminess, and there isn't a nick of damage. In sunlight or under a UV lamp, the pink core goes completely nuts, turning a deep magenta, and the white stripe visible in the photos becomes very pronounced. A super example of the species, and expert trimming would make this a stupendous thumbnail.
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Sodalite var. Hackmanite And here's the second-best hackmanite I've seen! This one is also sharp and gemmy, damage-free and extremely attractive. This specimen is an intense blue-violet that, like most hackmanites, gets much deeper and richer under UV light. The faces of this crystal are a little more irregular than the previous specimen, with a few areas showing unusual growth patterns that give it an almost "melted" look. A very desirable hackmanite! |
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Apatite & Quartz on Tourmaline There are a lot of specimens from this pocket on the market, and most of them are very similar in appearance: deep blue-green elbaite with interlocking quartz crystals, small "books" of light pink lepidolite, and a coating of white pocket material that is hard to remove. These are attractive specimens, and I've bought and sold quite a few, but this is the first one I've seen with apatite associated. The apatites on this specimen are scattered all around, and are pretty little hexagonal tabs to about 1 cm. Very nice combo piece.
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Herderite on Topaz This is a most unique specimen. A bent, broken and rehealed light sherry topaz with a very funky termination hosts a number of beautiful green herderite crystals, the main one being the big 3 cm one riding shotgun on the back of the topaz. Super sharp, lustrous faces on all the crystals. The photos don't do justice to this wonderful, damage-free specimen. A stunning little combo with some very unusual features!
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Fluorite on Muscovite A very nice 3+ cm pink fluorite octahedron with a faintly green ceneter and complex patterns on all the faces sits nicely on a plate of small, shiny silver muscovite crystals. Very clear, gemmy fluorite specimen that might display even better turned so the fluorite is on top.
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Quartz with Apatite Here's the second specimen from the new apatite find. This one features a beautiful cluster of water-clear, flattened quartz crystals arranged very aesthetically above the matrix of host rock, and a nest of lovely, delicate pink apatites at the base. Exquisite!
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Aquamarine with Albite, Apatite & Quartz Here's a really wild aqua that's difficult to photograph effectively. The crystal has undergone some amazing etching, and appears to have had, among other things, alternating pyramidal faces etched away, leaving the top termination of the crystal hollowed out and jagged, not unlike a child's cutout paper crown. The bottom of the crystal is sceptered, with a few "sticks" intact all the way to the bottom termination. And thrown in for extra effect are a quartz, a few albite, and three nice, pink apatites. So often I see etched crystals and think how beautiful they must have been before some damn hot pocket solution took away so much - but this is one of those specimens I look at and think how much MORE beautiful and interesting it is because of the etching!
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Aquamarine Here's another beautifully etched, sceptered aqua. The top termination of this crystal is almost completely intact, very glassy, and has a few nice modifications. And the view down the c-axis is stunning! You can see very clearly down almost to the very bottom of the specimen, with the concentric patterns of etching appearing like phantoms as you go down. This fascinating specimen displays very nicely from every angle, but the view from the top is a show-stopper!
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Topaz on Quartz A beautifully terminated medium sherry colored topaz perched on a shard of quartz, with a nice little cluster of cleavelandite on one side. The arrangement of this specimne is so nice, it's one of those that you first think must have been made-to-order! There is a little damage to the topaz on the back, but it is not visible from the display side. Super attractive!
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Apatite, Muscovite & Albite A sharp, deep pink 1.5 cm apatite on top of a cluster of very attractive, hexagonal muscovite crystals, and a few nice, small albites. There are also a few smaller apatites scattered around the specimen. Very nice representatives of each mineral on this combo.
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Garnet, Schorl & Albite A lovely little toenail featuring a stubby schorl crystal wearing a crown of sharp, white albite studded with super sharp, gemmy, wine red garnet dodecahedrons. One thin part of the schorl extends above and through the "crown," and is perfectly terminated. Killer toenail!
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Quartz (Faden) with Apatite A big, thick and sharp quartz crystal with a very distinct faden line, intergrown at the top by another quartz and a cluster of very thin, light pink apatites and a bit of matrix material.
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Quartz with Apatite Yet another killer toenail! This one features a little jackstraw cluster of apatites at the base of a group of beautifully clear, flat quartz crystals. A very nice little specimen.
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Apatite (faden) Here's something you don't see every day... faden apatite! This very unusual thumbnail's main feature is a very delicate, thin, complex apatite crystal with a very distinct faden line. Super-unique specimen!
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Apatite Just a wonderful, undamaged pink apatite with a lovely complex termination on a bit of matrix. From the new find. |
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Apatite The last specimen from this new find is another nice, flat apatite hosting a cluster of thin, flat quartz crystals. There are a couple points of contact on this one, but the main apatite is not damaged.
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Fluorite with Albite and Spessartine Here's another specimen of that weird, prismatic-looking fluorite that the last update contained several specimens of. This one is a jumble of bizarre shapes of green fluorite, peppered with bright orange spessartines (a few of which are included in fluorite), albite, and muscovite. These fluorites are very unusual, and I find them terribly appealing!
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Amazonite Now, for something completely different... amazonite from Afghanistan! This specimen features a beautiful, deep blue-green, semi-translucent amazonite sitting very aesthetically on a matrix of massive smoky quartz. The crystal is somewhat weathered, but nonetheless, it's the first translucent amazonite I've ever seen, and the first time I've come across any from Afghanistan, as well. |
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Amazonite Another semi-translucent, weathered amazonite on matrix from Afghanistan! This one is a little sharper and a little deeper in color than the first. Beautiful!
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Tourmaline on Cleavelandite A beautiful, impressive spray of blue-green tourmalines in which, amazingly, most of the crystals are terminated. The color is just to the green side of "the color," that surreal electric blue-green that commands the highest prices for Afghan tourmaline. The crystals in this specimen are a rich bluish grass green, and the tips on about half of them are much deeper, almost blue. There are a couple of contacts, most notably at the top of the crystal occupying the high point in the top-right photo, but the vast majority of crystals are beautifully terminated, many of them with modifications. This is a big, meaty tourmaline specimen, the likes of which we don't see often, and will probably see even fewer of in the coming months.
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Tourmaline (bi-color) on Quartz A great Afghan tourmaline with a twist! Pink tourmalines with green terminations are fairly common from Aghanistan, but this one is something special. First, the bottom termination on the main crystal is intact, and wonderfully complex. But more importantly, the entire crystal is bent - fractured during its formation, then rehealed at slightly different angles, resulting in a crystal that curves smoothly from beginning to end. A great example of this phenomenon, that is rarely seen in Afghan specimens.
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Tourmaline (bi-color) on Quartz A big, beautiful bi-color tourmaline, green on top and pink on the bottom half, doubly-terminated and embedded in a nice quartz cluster. Excellent specimen at a good price, as these go. |
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Tourmaline on Quartz Very nice, gemmy pink tourmaline lying alongside a large, milky quartz point. This specimen looks great, and is a very affordable classic from Afghanistan. |
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Tourmaline (bi-color) on Smoky Quartz & Feldspar This specimen is so ugly it's cute! A big, coated smoky quartz termination penetrated by a nice bicolor tourmaline that looks like it had to work really hard to get exposed. It broke through a crust of lepidolite just to make it to the surface... or at least it's fun to think that it did. There's also another broken tourmaline on the other side to keep this specimen honest. |
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Phlogopite This is without a doubt, the best, most gemmy mica specimen I've ever seen. The crystals are so packed together, and so clear, I can read the label easily through the mica. A lot of these specimens have come out in the last couple years, but this one is, as my kids would say, "the bomb." I'll let the photos speak for this one... |
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Aquamarine with Muscovite Here's a real gem of an aquamarine specimen - a "V" shaped crystal pair with a cluster of very nice muscovite books holding center stage. These crystals are nearly perfect, and the smudges that look like dings in the photos are actually sub-surface blems - the crystal surfaces aren't dinged at all. |
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