Beryl var: Aquamarine (doubly-terminated)

Item Description

When it comes to fine quality crystallized specimens of Aquamarine, Pakistan is the most productive country for specimens in the modern age of mineral collecting. For a few decades we've seen a good number of some of the very finest quality Aquamarine specimens collected from the various pegmatites in the high mountains of Pakistan, namely in the Shigar Valley. This specimen dates back to the late 1990s, and is a superb, very sharp , highly lustrous, doubly-terminated GEM quality beautiful blue color prismatic crystal group of Aquamarine, free of matrix. One end has a smooth flat basal termination, while the other end has been re-crystallized ("re-healed") at some point after it was detached from the pocket wall. The crystals are nearly WATER CLEAR in the upper portions, and the piece looks beautiful when held in the hand. The specimen is in great shape overall, with no major damage, only a few "flea bites" that can be seen here and there. Valued at $2,000 retail. A great gem crystal display specimen with from this famous pegmatite region. Specimen weigh is 62.3 grams. This piece comes from the personal collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman, the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. Dave is now retired from mining, but he worked for decades in various mines underground in Colorado, as a miner, mechanic, engineer, shift boss and foreman. His biggest claim to fame is that he was the foreman and the primary person in charge of mining and specimen recovery at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado in the 1970s alongside his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar. This project what was the FIRST ever operation for specimen recovery at this historic locality. A full-page photograph of Dave can be seen mining underground at the Sweet Home in on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".