Aquamarine with Microcline and Schorl ex Campbell

Item Description

The centerpiece of this sculptural specimen is a mostly gem, sky-blue columnar Aquamarine crystal accented by snow-white Albite and a few jet-black Schorl crystals. The big Aqua measures 5.8 cm tall and 2.9 cm wide and displays crisp edges and glassy faces. The Aqua is terminated by a flat pinacoid with a small area with slight, shallow indentations from what were probably Albite crystals. Another great characteristic of this crystal is the internal phantom that has a splendid texture of vertical veils extending from at least two subtle, horizontal planes within the phantom for wonderful effect. The tall Aqua has a smaller, 2.9 cm long, horizontally oriented companion that is light blue and slightly turbid. The Aquamarine crystals are growing on a contrasting matrix of white Albite crystals that are about 1 cm in length on average. Within the Albite are a few black Schorl Tourmaline crystals, and there is one 0.9 cm Schorl growing adjacent to the large Aqua. This is a very nice pegmatite combination specimen from the Shigar Valley in Pakistan. Ex Tom Campbell collection. Tom has had a lifelong passion for minerals which was fueled by his father, a research chemist, as well as Sandy and Gloria Ludlum of What on Earth, and they helped refine his taste in collecting fine minerals. While working on his graduate degrees at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, he met his friend and mentor W. L. "Bill" Roberts who furthered his enthusiasm for minerals and mineralogy. This is an old classic from the collection. Valued $2500-3500. It has a special, very contrasting look to it, compared to most similarly-sized aquamarine matrix pieces, that is perhaps hard to convey in photos.