Beryl var: Aquamarine (doubly-terminated) with Albite

Item Description

Aquamarines have seen a large increase in the number of fine specimens on the market in the last 30+ years. Whether they're from Namibia, Vietnam or Pakistan, we're fortunate to have so many localities producing excellent crystals these days. Several decades ago, it was fairly difficult to get good gem quality crystals of Aquamarine. If you go back about 40 years, there was very little available on the market in terms of good crystals of Aquamarine for collectors. Prior to Pakistan, most of the Aquamarine crystals in the world from places like Brazil or Russia were loose singles off matrix. Today there are many places in the world where you can get a good quality Aqua. This lovely toenail specimen features a sharp, lustrous, GEM quality, hexagonal crystal of gorgeous soft blue Aquamarine with attached cream colored Albite and minor Muscovite, along with thin black acicular inclusions of an unknown mineral (Schorl or possibly Rutile ?). At first you might dismiss the Aqua as being broken on the base, but if you look closely on the underside of the specimen, you'll see that it's completely recrystallized ("re-healed") and the piece is doubly-terminated (nearly what I would call a "floater" with no point of attachment). Originally it was connected to the pocket wall, but was likely shaken loose due to tectonic activity, and the piece finished crystallizing at the spot where it was detached. I can't find any major damage anywhere on the piece. No etching, just incredibly smooth, well-formed faces. A great example of this classic material from this storied part of Pakistan.