Baryte (doubly-terminated) on Calcite

Item Description

Baryte is not typically is not a species that people often associate with GEM quality crystals. As a matter of fact, a lot of Baryte crystals are rather flat / tabular, and still you don't find a great deal of gem material. This is NOT the case for the world-class specimens from Elk Creek, South Dakota which are among the most beloved and popular Barytes from any locality in the Western Hemisphere. Their superb quality, crystal form and color have put them in the higher tiers for the species among collectors. The specimen features a predominant, sharp, well-formed, GEMMY, beautiful rich amber-golden color, doubly-terminated crystal measuring 6.5 cm aesthetically flaring off golden-yellow Calcite crystals on matrix. A few smaller accenting Barytes can be seen for a nice touch. Each end of the main Baryte crystal is virtually WATER-CLEAR, and I cannot find any real damage, though some of the smaller crystals are not damage-free. Priced by the previous dealer at $3,000, and I could easily see it selling for more in today's market. It's such an eye-catching and dramatic example, certainly one of the better pieces we've had from this locality to offer in the auctions recently.
From the collection of Armon McPherson, a retired physicist, now living in New Mexico. Armon received his PhD from North Carolina State University in 1985, and worked at the laser laboratory at the University of Illinois at Circle Center. In the summer of 1997, Armon moved to the Argonne National Laboratory where he worked at the Advanced Photon Source, then the world’s largest synchrotron facility dedicated as an x-ray source. In 2001, he was asked to join a team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque to conduct laser research for DARPA. Finally, staying within Sandia, he transferred to the Z Facility, the world’s most powerful x-ray facility. He retired in the spring of 2017. Armon's introduction to mineral collecting came in the 1980s during graduate school when he attended his first mineral show. He took up the hobby of faceting gems, and focused his early collection on gem crystals, and later transitioned into collecting non-gem species. We are proud to offer specimens from his worldwide mineral collection here for you.