Aquamarine (thick gemmy crystal) with Muscovite

Item Description

The mine at Pingwu is now famous around world for its unique associations of minerals like Beryl (Aqumarine), Scheelite and Cassiterite found together. The Aquamarines from this locality are of particular note as they are some of the finest examples of this blue Beryl variety in the world. The crystals are notably tabular, which is rare for the material, and often thick, but still quite gemmy. Here we have a fine quality example of this classic material featuring a large, very sharp, highly lustrous, gemmy, thick, tabular hexagonal prism of Aquamarine associated with a few smaller accenting Aqua crystals and bladed silvery Muscovite at the base. The main Aqua crystal is really glassy and shimmers in the light. I can't find any major damage, only one tiny rough spot on the front left edge, and of course it's incomplete on the base where it was removed from the pocket wall. Interestingly, if you look at the first photo, you can see a few small modifying faces along the top edge of the crystal. These faces are rare for Beryl as they signify both second are third order pyramidal modifications. They give the illusion of reentrant faces of a twin (like a butterfly-twinned Calcite), but there is no known twinning habit / law for Beryl, so they are simply unusual and rarely seen modifying highlights on what is already impressive crystal. A very attractive specimen of this well-known, and now hard to find material. If you collect gem crystals, Beryl or minerals of China, don't miss out on this one for a great price. HARD TO PHOTOGRAPH, but BETTER IN PERSON. Valued at $4,000.