Andradite Garnet (Geode / "Coconut") (new find)

Item Description

Recently a good friend in Peru provided us with a very small parcel of new, unusual and interesting Andradite Garnets specimen. Originally the locality given was Pampa Blanca, but we have never received confirmation on this locality. We have also been told that there are no more specimens being found, so we may never seen them again. These pieces were called "coconuts" by the men who found them, as they form in hollow geode-like "balls", which are in turn cracked open to show that they formed in multiple generations / layers showing Garnets of different colors. This piece is a partial coconut with a dark reddish-brown exterior of rather large trapezohedral crystals - with the largest partial crystal measuring 5.7 cm across - and the broken edges show multi-layered banding with various hues of green, golden and brown. The piece is contacted around the periphery where it was removed from the pocket wall, but there are several undamaged trapezohedral crystals near the center of the exterior layer. A bit of associated Epidote can be seen on one edge of the piece for a nice touch. These are certainly strange and unique Garnets, and this piece would fit nicely into any worldwide collection, a Peruvian suite or a collection of unusual mineral. Valued at $700.