Beryl (rare locale)

Item Description

The Piona Peninsula is a small "finger"-like extension on the north end of Lake Como in Italy, and is an historic locality for minerals from various pegmatite dykes known was the Piona pegmatite swarm. Originally this area was mined for fine quality feldspar for the porcelain industry. The Malpensata dyke was a source for some beautiful pale blue Beryl crystals, though I don't ever see them labeled as "Aquamarine" for some reason. Nonetheless, this attractive miniature specimen features a somewhat crude, partial, blue hexagonal partial crystal of Beryl. The size makes it more desirable than others I've seen, and for what it's worth, I haven't run into many specimens of this material over the years. A must have for any Beryl collector. Classic material from this sub-Alpine locality in Lombardia. This piece is several decades old, I'm told maybe close to 50 years.